Harry Potter and the Second Riddle
by kingdom219
Summary: When a new transfer student comes to Hogwarts, he begins to change the lives of Harry and his friends in ways that nobody could have imagined.  HP/GW  REDONE!
1. Jacob Riddle

Jacob Riddle

The day was dark and grey. Rain pattered softly on the windows as the train moved swiftly and smoothly across the empty countryside. The train itself was warm and comfortable with the students of Hogwarts busily milling about happy, laughing, and having fun within their compartments. This particular compartment, though, seemed to reflect the mood outside.

A young boy, about the age of fourteen sat alone, staring at a small photograph in his hand. The boy was of average height, and slender, although, you could see budding muscle on his arms. His medium length black hair shrouded his dull—almost hollow—brown eyes from the world. He was tan, but not overly and dressed in typical wizarding clothes and a green cloak with a red lining. Hearing voices, the boy quickly put the photo into his cloak as the door slid open.

"Maybe," a girl with bushy brown hair was saying to a tall red headed boy, "or it might have Muggle-Repelling Charms on it, like the World Cup Stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable—oh…um…sorry." She blushed, seeing the boy. "We'll just find another compartment."

"No, please." The boy smiled, standing up. "I don't mind. I was getting lonely anyway."

The girl smiled uncertainly, before walking in and sitting opposite him. "You're an American," she stated, almost embarrassed, as the other two boys sat down. "I can tell by your accent."

"Yep," the boy answered, sticking out his hand. "Jacob Riddle, I'm a transfer student from Horseheads, New York."

The black haired boy in glasses with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead reacted first, taking Jacob's hand and shaking it firmly. "Harry Potter. This is Ron Weasley," he said pointing to the tall red head, "and Hermione Granger." He indicated the bushy haired girl.

"So you're Harry Potter, huh?" Jacob sat back his eyes alight with mirth. "Thought you'd be taller…" Harry smiled.

"Why are you transferring?" Hermione asked, with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

If Jacob noticed, he paid no mind to it and answered, "The American Wizarding Assembly or AWA wouldn't let me attend Jeanu."

"Why not?"

"No clue." He shrugged.

"What's Jeanu?" Harry asked.

"Jeanu is one of the Wizarding Schools in America," Hermione answered. "It's just as good as Hogwarts, but it doesn't have houses or Quidditch." Ron looked shocked by the idea that some schools didn't have Quidditch. "So you'll be starting as a first year?" she asked turning back to Jacob.

"You're very knowledgeable," Jacob laughed, "and actually, no…A man named Dumbledore came and tested my capabilities before the term started. He said that I would be able to start as a fourth year student. What year are you all in?"

"Fourth."

"Oh! Awesome, so at least I'll know some people." He grinned. "I know about the houses…a lion, a badger, a raven, and a snake. What houses are you in?"

"We're all in Gryffindor, the lion," Ron answered proudly. "Hufflepuff is the badger, Ravenclaw is the raven, and the snake is Slytherin. I hope you don't end up there, mate."

"Why not, I happen to like snakes."

"There's not a witch or wizard who turned bad that wasn't in that house."

"I'm sure that's just some stupid rumor," he laughed, shaking his head. "So what else should I know about the school?"

Harry, Ron, and a reluctant Hermione passed the next few hours taking turns explaining different aspects of the school to an eager Jacob.

About halfway through Ron's overly excited explanation of Quidditch, a round faced boy burst into their compartment, looking much disheveled.

"What's wrong Neville?" Harry asked.

"Malfoy's causing trouble with Ginny," Neville panted.

Instantly, the four shot up. "Who're Malfoy and Ginny?" Jacob asked as he walked next to Harry down the aisle.

"Malfoy's a git," Harry, replied shortly.

"A what—oh an idiot," Jacob laughed.

"Ginny's my sister," Ron added.

"Leave her alone!" a petite girl, obviously Ginny judging by her red hair, yelled angrily at a group of kids, led by a blond boy who was probably Malfoy. The group had surrounded a small girl with white-blond hair who looked on the verge of tears. The small red head was shoved into her brother by a large ape-like boy, who then turned back to taunt the girl. The blond haired boy took a newspaper forcefully from the girl's hand with a look of disgust.

"G-give that back, p-please," the girl stammered softly, head pointed at the ground.

"Or what?" the boy sneered. "What could 'Loony' Lovegood do to me?"

Jacob stepped forward before Ron and Harry even noticed, wand out and aimed at the boy's head. It was just over twelve inches with a dark red finish and a sliver handle. Harry noticed Jacob's eyes had turned very cold, aged almost, and that his expression had turned very serious, a huge difference from his earlier smiling face and bright eyes. "I think she asked you to give that back," Jacob said calmly.

"Who are you?" the boy asked with a sneer, and then a look of realization came over him and he smiled. "Ah yes, Father told me all about you. You're the new transfer student—the American." He said American with a hint of superiority. He looked behind Jacob and growled. "Why are you hanging out with riffraff? Surely, you could do better. You should be with people that are more…prominent, Draco Malfoy," he added sticking out his hand. "I can help you with anything you need."

"Good," Jacob said, not lowering his wand. "You can start by handing that girl her paper back and then clear off." Malfoy's smile disappeared. "I've been around you for three minutes, Draco, and I already dislike you."

"Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?" Malfoy demanded.

"I'm Jacob Andrew Riddle," Jacob answered smartly giving a small bow, "and for your information, I find riffraff, as you call them, quite interesting. From the looks of it, I won't have to buy friends." He smirked. "Unlike you it seems."

"Why you filthy—" Malfoy growled reaching into his pocket, instantly four more wands were aimed at the snob.

"Make another move…I dare you," Ron growled from behind Jacob's shoulder.

Malfoy glared at the group then looked directly at Jacob. "Keep hanging around Mudbloods, traitors, and especially Potter and you'll meet a very sticky end."

"At least it'll be an interesting one, Draco," Jacob taunted. He motioned at the girl with his wand and Malfoy dropped the paper and strutted off with his cronies following.

The girl sniffled, hurriedly grabbed the paper, and then looked around. She mumbled something that sounded like 'wand' and went after Malfoy. She reached him, and tapped him on the shoulder.

Suddenly, he whipped around, smacking her across the face. "Don't touch me!" he yelled. The force of the hit sent the girl's head into a window, cracking it and she fell limply to the ground.

Before anyone could react, there was a loud crack and Malfoy was suddenly up on the ceiling of the train, on his back. "What the hell did you do you me, Riddle?"

"You're lucky that's all I did," Jacob growled, rushing to the fallen girl. His eyes were ablaze with anger, but they instantly softened as he helped the girl up. "Are you okay?" he whispered.

She nodded shyly. "He had my wand."

"I thought that's what you said." He smiled picking up the wands Malfoy had dropped when he ended up stuck to the ceiling. She grabbed hers and he tossed the other one aside. "Come on, you can sit with us, okay?" She didn't answer, but let him lead her to the other five, leaving Malfoy's group to try to pull him down.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron and Neville cheered as they got back to their compartment.

"Where did you learn that?" Ginny asked with an evil glint in her eye. She turned to see Jacob checking over the blond. "Are you okay, Luna?" The girl nodded with a far off look on her face.

"Okay, you're all set!" Jacob smiled sitting across from Luna. "I'm not a doctor but it doesn't look like you were hurt, just had some glass in your hair, but I got it all out. Oh, uh, I'm Jacob, by the way." She nodded, but continued to stare. He smiled, blushed, and looked down, before turning to Ginny. "I…" he paused and looked sad for a moment, "…I had a younger sister. She got hyperactive, after a few too many sugar cookies, so I created that to keep her from moving until she calmed down. Unfortunately, she loved hanging off the ceiling and got hyperactive more often," he laughed.

"You _created _that?" Neville asked, shocked.

Jacob nodded, scratching the back of his head with a nervous laugh. "The incantation is _Superat_ with a sharp flick of your wand at what you want to hit."

"What do you mean by **had** a sister?" Ron asked.

"Ron, don't pry!" Ginny scolded sharply, smacking her brother in the back of the head.

"It's a long story…" he smiled hesitantly.

"I'm sure it is," Hermione put in a tad harshly. "We'll be at Hogwarts in about five minutes so…"

"I need to get my things…" Luna said dreamily. "Jacob, would you mind coming with me?"

"Not at all, Luna," Jacob replied, getting up and walking with her down the hall. "Hey, do you think they have any chocolate pudding?" he asked, as they got further away. "I haven't had that in months."

Ron shut the door briskly. "What was that about, Hermione?"

"I don't trust him," Hermione stated flatly.

"Why the hell not?" Ron demanded, puzzled.

"He seems fine to me," Neville added.

She huffed and looked directly at Ginny, Harry, and Ron. "What other Riddle do we know of?"

"What?" Ron asked.

"Tom," Ginny gasped, sneaking a glance at Harry. "You don't think…?"

"It's possible." Hermione shrugged.

"Wait, who's Tom?" Neville asked.

"Tom Riddle is Voldemort's real name," Harry answered, ignoring the shudder that ran through the room. "Come off it, you guys. It's just a coincidence. Besides, he seems pretty nice."

"So did Tom," Ginny mumbled.

Soon after that, the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station.

* * *

><p>Hey, At long last I'm back! No, I'm not dead; life just got in the way. But I plan on continuing this story! I've missed writing and it's about time I started doing it again. A BIG thank you to <strong>Tinian I'att<strong> for being my Beta for this chapter and hopefully more chapters to come.

I've edited the previous chapters as much as I could and am going to be sending them off to** Tinian I'att** for her opinion THEN post these bad boys up. Some chapters may have been extremely revamped, while others may just have small changes. In my personal opinion, any changes are more than welcome. I look back on this story, and my Naruto one, and wonder what I was thinking when I posted them as they were.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading _Harry Potter and the Second Riddle_. Please remember comments, criticisms, and flames are more than welcome.

~Kingdom219


	2. The Triwizard Tournament

The Triwizard Tournament

When Luna reappeared five minutes later, Jacob wasn't with her. "He said he had something that he needed to do," she told them. She turned to Ginny. "I think he's very nice," she said with a dreamy, if not distracted tone, "although he seems to be very lonely and sad."

"He seemed fine when we were talking to him," Harry said with a questioning look.

"It's his eyes," she said simply.

Harry looked confused, as did most of the boys, but the girls seemed to know exactly what she was talking about. After that, the ride up to the castle was very quiet.

The rain only seemed to grow more furious as they neared the school. As the wet students entered the front doors leading to the Great Hall, they were immediately attacked with water balloons by a crackling Peeves, who was quickly shooed away by an even angrier Professor McGonagall. Shortly after, the whole school sat down awaiting the new students.

"Where's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Hermione asked glancing up at the teachers table. "Maybe they couldn't get anyone!" she added. Harry thought, if only for a second, that she sounded very frightened.

No sooner had he thought that; when the doors burst open to allow Professor McGonagall and a long line of first years through. Harry noticed that in the back of the line was a noticeably taller boy in a black cloak with the hood up. As the line stopped, the boy took off his hood to reveal Jacob, soaking wet, but looking quite happy. The boy took a quick look around, clearly impressed. He spotted Harry and waved, then looked toward the Ravenclaw table.

"He's probably looking for Luna," Harry muttered as the Sorting Hat began to sing.

After the Sorting Hat finished singing, the crowd burst into a fit of cheers.

"I feel bad for that hat," Ron sighed. "It probably spends the entire year making up a new song."

As the cheers died down the Sorting began with Stewart Ackerley who the Hat quickly sorted into Ravenclaw.

"What house do you think Jacob will end up in?" Neville asked.

"Most definitely Slytherin," Hermione answered dryly.

"What is your problem with him?" Harry asked sharply. "What has he done to make you not trust him?"

"Hermione…maybe…maybe Harry's right…" Ginny muttered. She blushed as three heads snapped toward her. "I mean…he hasn't really done anything for us to think any less of him. Besides….Luna seems to like him, and I trust her judgment."

"I don't mind him," Neville added.

"But he's a Riddle," Hermione said frustratingly. "He can_not _be trusted."

The three looked at her, clearly shocked. "Hermione…" Ron said nervously after a few moments. "You're starting to sound like Malfoy…"The look on her face was a mix of betrayal, anger and hurt, but she didn't continue.

Harry turned to Ginny as the Sorting Hat put Natalie McDonald into Gryffindor. "You're the last person I expected to agree with me," he told her.

She looked up at him and smiled, shrugging. "I didn't at first, but then Luna said something about his eyes."

"Why did that change your mind?"

"Well, no matter how many facades you try to put on, your eyes will always show what you really feel," she explained sagely.

"When did you figure that out, oh wise one," he laughed.

"I see it every time I see you." He stopped laughing and looked at her shocked, but before he could ask any further questions, Professor McGonagall called another name and interrupted him.

"Riddle, Jacob!"

* * *

><p>Jacob smiled taking off his hood to inspect the Great Hall. It was large, easily twice as large as a lecture hall, but very dark. The windows had an old chapel-like feel to them while the candles and large hearths in the corners of the room gave it a dark, yet oddly inviting feel to it. The ride up in the boats was interesting, even with the castle view hampered by the water and rain.<p>

Seeing Harry and the others, he waved, getting a wave back from Harry, Ginny, and Neville. Ron looked confused and Hermione…uh, well…she looked murderous. _What'd I do to her? _he thought confused. He pushed that thought out of his head and looked for Luna. A second later, he found her. He noticed the dreamy look that she had on her face before she noticed him. She caught his eye and waved shyly with a slight pink hue on her cheeks.

Suddenly, everyone burst into cheers, making him jump slightly and instinctively reach for his wand. He sighed feeling stupid before actually paying attention. He wanted to burst out laughing when Professor McGonagall pulled out a decrepit looking hat and place it atop a young boy's head, but that thought quickly vanished when the Hat yelled out Ravenclaw. _Hm…a hat that can sort…_he thought amused.

He continued to watch as, one by one, students went up, placed the Hat upon their heads, and the Hat sorted them into one of the houses. He watched as Professor McGonagall called someone's name, but nobody went up. McGonagall was looking right at him. "Riddle, Jacob!" she called again clearly annoyed.

"Hm? OH! That's me," he laughed, causing the hall to chuckle lightly. He walked up and sat down with an 'ompf.' The chair was very short.

As she placed the hat on his head, it gave a startled shout, "Hm…VERY interesting…"

"What?"

"…your past…"

"What about it?" Jacob asked softly, eyes darkening. "It sucks."

"Indeed it does," the Hat agreed. "Yet, you've grown because of it. You're courageous, very much so, very clever too, plenty of talent—my goodness yes—and a thirst as well…but for what? Maybe if I…"

"NO!" Jacob nearly yelled. "N-not there….please, I…I don't want to remember…" he whispered.

"I haven't had a case like yours in over four years," the Hat said, sounding quite pleased. "You're much harder to place than the last one…very well, better be…"

The Hat gave an excited cry of "GRYFFINDOR!" and the Gryffindor table burst into cheers. Harry smiled clapping and turned to Hermione who looked utterly gob-smacked. Jacob laughed as he sat down next to Neville while anyone near him immediately patted him on the back.

The rest of the Sorting went smoothly and with a loud cry of "tuck in" from Dumbledore, the feast began. Halfway through the meal, one of the ghosts Jacob had noticed drifting around the Hall, Neville told him the ghost's name was Nearly Headless Nick, said something about house elves, which caused Hermione to mutter something about slave labor, stop eating and huff for the rest of the meal, not touching another bite. After some kind of magic cleaned the plates, Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet and faced the Hall.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we've all been fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that he has extended the list of objects forbidden inside the castle this year to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it." The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. "As ever, I would like to remind you that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome our new American transfer student, Mr. Jacob Riddle."

Jacob blushed at the attention, but still smiled. "It's a pleasure to be here, Mr. Dumbledore!" he replied.

"Professor is fine," the man chuckled, "as it is with all the teachers here. Now, it is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year." There was a loud uproar and he waited patiently for it to die down before continuing. "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy—but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts—"

Just then, the doors burst open accompanied by a loud boom of thunder from outside. A man stood in the doorway. His face looked as though someone had carved it from wood and his long grey hair looked like it was made of ash. It was his eyes, however, that caught most people's attention. One was small, dark, and beady, while the other, large and round as a coin, was a bright electric blue. The black eye stayed focused on the head table as the man walked, the blue one, on the other hand, kept shifting positions, even turning to look inside his head. As the man reached the table, he mumbled something to Dumbledore before sitting down and eating.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore said brightly. "Professor Moody."

"_Mad-Eye _Moody," Jacob laughed, "this year WILL be interesting."

"You've heard of him?" Ron asked.

"Of course I have," Jacob replied. "Who hasn't?"

Ron was about to ask more when Dumbledore cleared his throat again. "As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place here at Hogwarts this year."

The uproar that followed was quite shocking, as students began to talk excitedly and all at once.

A loud crack from the head table quickly silenced it. "Thank you, Alastor." Dumbledore smiled. "Now, due to a rising death toll, the tournament was discontinued, but with the help of our Department of Magical Games and Sports and the American Safety Bureau as well as many other organizations around the world, we have faith that no champion will find themselves in mortal danger.

"The heads of Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, as well as an excited Jeanu will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October and the selection of the four champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to complete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money." Before any more chatter could erupt, he held up his hands. "The Heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic and the American Wizarding Assembly, have agreed that only students that are of age—that is to say, seventeen years or older for us—will be allowed to submit their names for consideration. This is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the Tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen. Now, I'm guessing you all are tuckered out, so off to bed with you. Chop, chop!"

* * *

><p>The entire way up to the dormitory, Fred, George and many other students bickered and complained about the injustice of not allowing them to compete in the Tournament. Harry, Ron, and Hermione along with Ginny, Neville, and Jacob, just ignored them as they entered the Gryffindor common room.<p>

"What did Dumbledore mean when he said 'for us'?" Ginny asked as she sat on the couch, next to Neville and Jacob. Harry sat near the fire, and Hermione and Ron in opposite chairs. "I thought the legal age was the same everywhere."

"It is in Europe," Jacob said dryly. After dinner, he seemed to take on an angry and annoyed attitude. "The legal age to do magic outside of school in America is thirteen, even though we go through seven years of school."

"Why?"

"American's are more independent than people over here, not only that, but we're more susceptible to violence."

"That's horrible! So it's for protection?"

He smiled darkly. "Why do you think I agreed to come here?" Just then, Fred and George jumped in.

"You're lucky, mate!" Fred exclaimed.

"Why's that?"

"You can compete in the Tournament!" George replied. "Imagine all the privileges the champions will get."

"Knowing my damn luck," Jacob growled. "Something will go wrong if I enter, so I think I'll just stay out of it. Although, I'm sure _someone _from Jeanu will put my name for laughs."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

Jacob sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "There was a reason that I wasn't accepted into Jeanu for a fourth term…." he admitted wincing, "I'm not very well liked there…"

"What was it?" Hermione asked with a curious look.

Jacob shook his head. "It's nothing…never mind."

"Why?" she asked, forcefully. "I don't think it-"

"I said it's none of your business," Jacob yelled standing up, "and I don't appreciate the interrogation, Hermione! I don't know _what_ I did to provoke you, but I'm sure it's nothing serious. Stop trying to read people like a damn book, I've known you for less than a day and it's getting really aggravating!" He turned and stormed into the boys' dormitory.

"You shouldn't have done that, Hermione," Harry sighed. "It seems like it's a difficult problem."

"Well, I wouldn't be so suspicious of him if he didn't hide things," she said.

"Some things are just too personal to share, Hermione," Ginny replied. "You don't seem to realize that."

Hermione gave a short 'humph' and stalked into the girls' dormitory. The rest of the night passed in relative silence. Slowly, everyone cleared out to go to bed until it was only Harry and Ginny, who yawned tiredly.

"I'm going to bed…" she sighed. As she walked toward the staircases that lead to the dormitories, a snow-white owl flew down and landed beside Harry. He gingerly reached out to pet the bird as she affectionately nipped his fingertips with a soft hoot. "Shouldn't she be in the Owlery?"

He laughed nodding. "Yeah, but she's been following me around quite a bit recently. Have a good hunt?" He shook his head as Hedwig stuck her chest out proudly with a hoot.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ginny giggled. "Goodnight Harry," she added turning back to the staircase.

"Ginny…" Harry said before she walked up the stairs.

"Yeah, Harry?" She smiled.

For some reason, that smile made one appear on his face. "What do you see in my eyes?"

She looked thoughtful, before answering. "I see someone who's happy," she said as her smile faded, "but I can also see that you're troubled about things…things that you've kept bottled up for a very long time. It's slowly fading…but it's still there. It's like you're afraid to show people who you really are…like something's holding you back…"

He sat taking in what she said slowly, staring at the fire for a moment before looking at her once more. "You can see all that in my eyes, eh?" The bright gleam in his eyes had disappeared, leaving only confusion and a phantom pain. "You're right…you know." He sighed tiredly. He seemed to age before her eyes. Frankly, it scared her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked hesitantly.

He shook his head. "No…you get some sleep. Good night, Ginny."

"Good night, Harry." She smiled softly. "I'm here if you ever want to talk." He watched her turn up the stairs and disappear all the while thinking about what she had said.

He felt a sharp nip on his ear and looked at his owl, who was giving him a look. "I know, girl…I'm trying…" She gave a hoot and a small flap of her wings. "You know why…" The indignant look dropped from the owl's face and she gave a softer nip and a coo, nuzzling his cheek. "Thanks…let's head to bed." She bobbed her head and flew up the staircase, her master following close behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everyone, Back again for Chapter Two! Hope you're enjoying it as much as I am. <strong>

**Note that some of the paragraphs may have been adapted from the book, while not quite the exact same it is close enough. Once again, I am proud to thank Tinian I'att for her wonderful work and ability to make my story less confusing. I'm am very grateful for her help.**

**I also should mention that I do NOT own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form. I do own any character that was not in the books though-in regards to this story anyway. I noticed I forgot to mention that in the last chapter...  
><strong>

**Reviews, comments and Flames are, as always, welcome!**

**~Kingdom219**


	3. To Kill, To Torture, and to Control

To Kill, To Torture, and to Control

Jacob and Hermione's bad moods carried over to the next morning, much to the annoyance to the people around them. They constantly avoided talking to each other, refusing even to ask the other to pass food.

Throughout breakfast, Hermione seemed to be very angry while Jacob seemed to be slipping into a depressed state of mind, poking at his food. When Professor McGonagall came around, handed him his schedule and asked him if he was all right, his smile was painfully fake as he answered 'yes'. Fake as it may have been, she didn't pay anymore mind to him and continued down the table.

"What do you have, Jacob?" Ron asked, after he had checked Harry's tables.

"Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures this morning and Double Muggle Studies this afternoon," he answered with a sigh, pecking at his toast.

"Hello Harry, Ronald, Hermione," a dreamy voice said. "Ginny, how are you?"

"I'm good, Luna." Ginny smiled at the blond haired Ravenclaw. "How are you?"

"Just peachy," she said quickly. "Jacob, could I talk to you for a moment?" she asked…almost normally.

"Sure," he sighed, not turning to look at her.

"In private," she added. At the seriousness of her tone, the heads of all the people near them swiveled in their direction. She turned and walked briskly out of the Great Hall, Jacob close behind.

Harry turned to a shocked looking Ginny. "I take it she's never been like that before?"

"No…never. Apart from when we were younger…" She shook her head. "She must be really bothered…or angry." She turned to him and smiled. "You get any sleep? You look tired."

"I got enough. I usually don't sleep all that much anyway," he replied. "I was thinking about what you said. That and Hedwig hoots loudly in her sleep."

"Sorry…" She frowned.

"Don't be." He smiled. "I-I think I needed to hear that." He tried to sound reassuring.

"If you ever want to talk…" she trailed off.

"I know where to find you," he finished.

Just then, the doors opened.

In the crack of the closing door, Harry and Ginny could see Jacob and Luna, who looked like she'd been crying, talking. Luna seemed to be holding a picture and saying something that made Jacob laugh. He looked like he said 'Thank you' and smiled goofily, which made Luna giggle. She handed him the picture, which he tucked into his robe pocket, and they walked back into the Great Hall toward the Ravenclaw table. Luna took on that dreamy look and then waved to Jacob as he turned and left. He smiled as he passed the Gryffindor table. Taking out his wand, he gave it a slight swish and his bag, which he'd left under the bench, flew through the air and into his waiting arms, although it nearly hit a poor first-year in the process. He then waved to Harry and Ron, and continued on his way out the doors with the rest of the school.

"What was that about?" Harry asked Ginny.

"I don't know, but I'll ask Luna when I see her." She shrugged. "See you guys later!"

* * *

><p>Herbology was uneventful, just collecting something called Bubotuber pus. It smelt like petrol…enough said. After the class ended, Jacob ran off to Care of Magical Creatures, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione trailing behind. When the trio arrived, Jacob was sitting next to Hagrid looking into a large crate and dangling a small piece of meat over it. Looking inside, Hermione best summed up the question on everyone's mind.<p>

"What are they?" she asked with a look of disgust. The creature looked like some kind of deformed, shell-less lobster.

"Blast-Ended Skrewts!" Jacob laughed as the Skrewt 'leapt' for the meat, although the leap looked more like a flop. "We did them last year in our Creatures class."

"On'y jus' hatched, so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! I thought we'd make a bit of a project of it." Hagrid beamed proudly.

"And why would we _want _to raise them?" Malfoy asked as he and rest of the Slytherin class arrived. "What's the point of them? They're useless."

"Not everything in life has to have a point, Draco." Jacob laughed as the Skrewt finally caught the meat. He turned to him and smiled. "Actually, I think they're pretty cool."

"You would think something useless and odd was cool, wouldn't you?" Malfoy sneered. "I saw how you and 'Loony' looked when you came in, blubbering like a baby. I think…"

"Draco," Jacob said evenly. "Do not poke fun at something that you do not and will not _ever _understand. If you do, I will make you regret it."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Yes." With that, he reached into a bucket and tossed more meat to the Skrewts.

They spent the rest of the class feeding the Skrewts. The only student that seemed to enjoy the burning, stinging, biting creatures was Jacob.

* * *

><p>Double Divination went off fairly well, with Professor Trelawney predicting Harry's death at every turn; a perfectly normal class. Dinner couldn't have come at a better time.<p>

As Harry, Ron, and Hermione met up with Ginny and Jacob waiting in line to enter the Great Hall, Malfoy decide to show his fathead again. "Hey Weasley! Your family's in the paper!" he yelled obnoxiously, holding up a copy of the _Daily Prophet_. "And here's a picture! Wow, your mother could stand to lose a bit of weight!"

"Put a sock in it, Draco!" Jacob yelled grabbing Ron's shoulder to keep him from attacking Malfoy. Hermione grabbed Ginny's arm to prevent her from using her wand. "You seem to like to run your mouth a lot. It's getting _really _old."

"Get stuffed, Malfoy!" Harry added grabbing Ron's other shoulder. "You're one to talk. _You're _mother looks like she's got dung up her nose or was that because she was with you?"

"Oh, yo Mama fight!" Jacob yelled, with a smile. There was a slight pause in the tension as the two sides looked at the boy oddly. "It's…an American thing…" He blushed.

"Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter!" Malfoy growled.

"Keep your fat mouth shut then," he said turning away. "It could do you some goo-"

BANG!

Harry felt something white-hot slide across his cheek. Then in the next instant:

BANG!

Harry's instincts flared as he spun around, hand in his pocket for his wand to see Jacob had already beaten him, wand out, with a dark scowl on his face and another wand in his left hand.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!" Harry looked up to see Professor Moody, limping down the stairs, wand out, his metal leg clunking with every other step.

Taking his hand out of his pocket, Harry tried to stop the professor from blaming his new friend. "Professor, Jacob didn't-"

"I know that, Potter," Moody growled. "Did he get you?"

"No, missed," Harry answered, blushing under the scrutiny.

Moody nodded, turning to Jacob. "Fantastic reactions, sonny."

"Thanks…" he smiled dryly, glaring at a white ferret where Malfoy had once stood.

"LEAVE IT!" Moody growled, his magical eye turning through his head to see Crabbe trying to pick up the ferret. Moody levitated the animal. It squealed as he began bouncing it up and down. "I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," he growled. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do…" the ferret flailed wildly as Moody bounced it up and down with each word."Never — do — that — again!"

"Professor Moody!" a shocked Professor McGonagall shouted as she came down the stairs. "What are you doing?"

"Teaching."

"Is-is _that a student_?" she asked horrified.

"Yep."

"Technically it's a ferret." Jacob laughed, eyes following the scared animal up and down.

There was a loud snapping noise and Draco dropped to the ground, looking very scared and confused. "Moody, we NEVER use transfiguration on students as a punishment. Surely, Dumbledore told you that. We give detentions or speak to the offender's Head of house."

"He…might have mentioned it," Moody muttered.

"Mr. Riddle, please hand Mr. Malfoy back his wand," Professor McGonagall instructed.

Moody took Malfoy's wand from Jacob, and then taking hold of Malfoy's arm he said, "Come on, boy, let's go see Snape then. I've been meaning to have a word with him, anyway." With that, the two headed toward the dungeons.

"Well…this sucks," Jacob sighed, putting his wand away as the crowd began to fill the Great Hall.

"What?" Ron asked, still laughing.

"We don't have him 'till Thursday."

* * *

><p>The next two days passed without a hitch. Harry learned that Jacob was a natural at Potions, finishing first, a whole five minutes before Hermione, even with the attempted sabotage, although he would often do something odd or funny after adding each ingredient. "You've got to have fun doing it," he explained when Harry asked why he crackled like a madman and muttered to himself. "You don't want to end up like Professor Snape, you know."<p>

On Thursday, almost everyone was waiting eagerly for Moody outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jacob hurried to the front of the classroom, determined to get good seats for Moody's first lesson.

"You can put those away—the books," Moody growled as he limped in and took attendance. "Am I correct in understanding that you've covered Boggarts, Redcaps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows, Kappas, werewolves, and a few other dark creatures?" Getting a nod from the class, he cracked a crooked grin. "That's good, but you're behind on curses—very behind. I have one year to bring you up to scratch—yes only one year. It's a special favor to Dumbledore, then back to my…quiet retirement."

For a moment, no one said a word.

"Right then," Moody continued. "I'm not supposed to show you illegal curses—something about your fragile little minds not being able to handle it, but Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves. A Death Eater, or some other Dark Wizard, isn't going to go easy on you because of your age—CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked. "So…what curses are punished most heavily by wizarding law?"

Hermione, of course, and Ron raised their hands. Moody looked directly at Ron. "The uh, Imperius curse…I think…" he stammered.

"You're Arthur's boy, aren't you?" Moody smiled. He went to his desk and pulled out a jar with a small spider in it. He took it out and placed it on the table. "_Engorgio!_" he said, causing the spider to double in size. "_Imperio!_" The spider began to dance and cartwheel around the table. Everyone was laughing. "Oh yes, very funny." Moody smiled. "What should I make it do next?" He flicked his wand "Should I make it drown itself?" The spider paused above a glass of water. "How about jump out the window?" It rushed toward the open window beside the table.

There was a rush of wind, and four loud cracks as jars broke. Harry turned to see Jacob, white as a ghost, shaking violently eyes blank, staring at the spider with a hunted and scared look.

"Total control, the victim can see everything, but no longer has any say in what their body does," Moody continued, grabbing the attention of the class again. "Doesn't do too well for the mind, I'll tell you that much. You can fight it, though. I'll be teaching you how to do it. Anyone else?"

Hermione's hand went up again, and surprisingly, Neville's did too. "The…the Cruciatus," he answered almost in a whisper when called upon.

"Your name's Longbottom?" Moody asked, his magical eye checking the register. Neville nodded, but Moody didn't question further. He pointed his wand and muttered, "_Crucio!_"

If the spider had had a voice, Harry thought it would be screaming in agony. Its legs bent in awkward positions, rolling back and forth. Moody didn't remove his wand as the spider started to move more violently. "STOP IT!" Hermione yelled. She wasn't staring at the spider, but at Neville, his knuckles clenched and white, his eyes wide and horrified.

Moody raised his wand and the spider lay calm and still. "Pain," he said simply, "the most unbearable kind. What's the last one?" Nobody moved. Nobody answered. Pointing his wand at the spider Moody roared, "_Avada Kedavra!_" There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound and the spider just dropped, clearly dead. "The killing curse, not nice…not pleasant, and there's no blocking it. Only one person has ever survived it and he is sitting in front of me." All eyes were staring intently at Harry.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Jacob sat in the empty common room, staring blankly into the fire. His eyes glazed over as if remembering something forgotten. In his hand, he unconsciously twirled a photograph. He barely registered that the door had opened and someone had walked in until he heard his name. "Jacob?"<p>

He turned mutely to see Harry looking at him in confusion. "Hey…Harry," he said emotionlessly. "What are you doing here? Isn't it time for dinner?"

"Wasn't hungry…" Harry muttered, plopping down next to him.

"Me neither," Jacob said, smiling slightly. "Neville's upstairs," he added, turning his attention to the fire again.

"Who's that?" He looked up to see Harry looking at the photograph in his hand. "Mind if I take a look?"

Jacob shook his head, handing him the picture.

It was a young girl about the age of eight or nine. She had hair that kept changing from brown to black to red to green to blue while making funny faces at the camera. The girl stopped, smiled—her hair a deep brown—blew a kiss and the picture repeated. "She is…she _was _my sister," Jacob explained sadly. "She's dead now…" His voice trembled as he continued, "It's my fault…"

"Don't say that," Harry sighed.

"NO! It is…." he yelled. He stopped and took a deep breath. "I had just finished my third year. We were orphans—came across each other in a small town in New York when I was nine. We lived in a small apartment given to us by the AWA, just the two of us, like a little family. Every night she'd kiss me on the cheek, saying 'I love you big brother' in a little cutesy voice she liked to use. I always told her to speak properly. She'd just giggle. When school started, she would come with me to Jeanu and help around the kitchens and stuff, while I learned. We couldn't be happier." He sniffled pathetically. "This was going to be her first year in school…

"The day after her eleventh birthday, some men in black cloaks with metal masks broke into the house. I-I didn't hear them come in until it was too late." He paused, crying fully. He looked right into Harry's eyes. "They used the Imperius curse on me. I was aware of everything that I did to her," he sobbed. "For over an hour they forced me to torture her. She begged them to stop, to let me go, but they just laughed at her and continued. I watched as one of them got _bored _and killed her." He stopped and gave a crooked, pain-filled smile. "I lost it…I fought the curse and I-I killed them…I _slaughtered _them with my bare hands," he said darkly. "By the time Aurors got there…they couldn't identify the attackers except for the tattoo on their left arms—a snake coming out of the mouth of a skull. Later I was given a trial and expelled."

"Why?"

He didn't answer immediately. He stopped to collect himself again, staring at the fire. "Not yet…" he whispered, "I'll tell you sometime…just…just not yet." Harry nodded, understandingly. "If…if it hadn't been for Dumbledore, coming when he had. Harry, I wouldn't have a wand or a place to live for that matter. I owe that man everything. Great man…that Dumbledore."

"So I've heard." Harry smiled. "I take it you told Luna this on Monday?"

He nodded, smiling back. "She's a great listener." He blushed. "Not half bad looking either…" He laughed faintly, before looking at Harry. "You want to enter the Tournament?"

"No!" Harry replied, almost immediately. "I've got enough of a reputation as it is."

"Yeah, that's true…" Jacob laughed. "I just _know _someone from Jeanu will try to put my name in…They blame me for Aura's death— and the truth doesn't matter, people will believe anything they're told in the media," he added cutting off Harry's protest. "I…guess we'll see how everything plays out, huh?"

Harry nodded with a smile on his face. Jacob had amazed him since they met on the train. No matter what the situation, no matter how bad he felt, he'd always come around and smile even if he did need a little push. To see this side of the usually cheerful boy...it made him seem more human.

Just then, Ginny walked into the room. She stopped, staring at the frazzled Jacob. "You look terrible, what happened?" she asked.

"I'm going to bed," he told Harry. As he passed Harry's chair, he bent and whispered into his ear. "Do you trust her?" Harry paused before nodding. Yes he did. He found Ginny very easy to talk to and he was beginning to like doing it. "You can tell her…" With that, he waved to Ginny and walked up to the dorm.

"What was that about?" she asked confused as she watched Jacob walk away.

"Ginny…you might want to sit down for this," Harry told her, looking down at the picture of Aura. _This is going to be a long night… _he thought with a sigh as she sat down next to him.

* * *

><p><strong>There you have it, folks! Chapter three is done. God, I've missed updating this thing regularly. Hopefully I can keep it up when We're finished with the older chapters and move into the newer stuff. Anyway<strong>,** big thanks again to ****Tinian I'att for all her hard work.**

**As always, Comments, Suggestions, Questions and Flames are welcome!**

**See ya!**

**~Kingdom219  
><strong>


	4. Three Schools and The Goblet of Fire

Three Schools and the Goblet of Fire 

_Jump onto the desk! _Moody's voice rang in Harry's head.

About two weeks had passed since Jacob broke down and told Harry about his sister. When Harry told Ginny the story, her reaction was the same as Luna's had been, with the Weasley anger thrown in. In fact, when Hermione shot Jacob a dirty look the next morning, Ginny blew up in her face and stormed off. It took Harry the rest of breakfast to convince her to come out of the girls' bathroom. The two girls were now at odds and not even speaking to one another.

Jacob seemed to be in a good mood lately, which Harry guessed was because of Luna. He often saw them together during breaks, walking around the grounds or in the library.

"Those two just click," Ginny said to him that morning as they watched Jacob and Luna talking during breakfast. "She doesn't even show her spacey side around him. I think they do each other good."

_Jump on the desk! _Moody's voice repeated.

Why would I want to do something so stupid, though? asked a voice inside Harry's head.

Professor Moody was currently teaching them how the Imperius curse felt, much to Jacob's displeasure.

_Jump, NOW!_

Harry both jumped and tried to stop himself, the result was his face meeting the desk at a ninety-degree angle.

"Fantastic Potter!" Moody applauded. "You all see that? He fought it and damn near beat it too! Great job! Riddle, you're up!"

"P-Professor…" Jacob paled, and began to stutter nervously, "…could I…I just…"

"No! You HAVE to know what it feels like. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed.

Jacob gave a pitiful laugh and shuffled his feet. "Jacob." The nervous boy shot a look at Harry. "He won't do something bad…I promise…"

He looked apprehensive, but sighed and looked at Moody. "Do it."

"_Imperio_." Nothing happened for a few moments. Finally, Moody lowered his wand. "Drop your shields, boy," he growled. "As impressive as they are, they defeat the purpose of this exercise." Jacob laughed nervously, and nodded. "_Imperio_!" Moody tried again.

Jacob's vision blurred then turned glassy, his eyes filmed over and became unfocused, an all too familiar feeling for him.

_Act like a chipmunk!_

N-No! Jacob said mentally.

_Act like a chipmunk! _the voice repeated forcefully.

N-n-NO! Jacob yelled his eyes shifting from focused to unfocused.

_Act like-_

"Get out!" Suddenly, Moody stumbled back, his wand flying into Jacob's outstretched hand.

Moody glared at the boy for a moment after regaining his balance. All was silent, as the class waited for what would happen next, suddenly, Moody began _laughing_. "In all my years…Fantastic, you would both make astounding Aurors! Twenty-five points each for Gryffindor." Jacob laughed nervously, handing the man his wand back. "Thank you—now, Potter, let's see if we can get you to do the same—watch his eyes everyone! That's the key!"

When they went to diner after Care of Magical Creatures, they discovered a large group of students gathered around a sign in the Entrance Hall blocking the way.

_TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT_

_The delegations from Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Jeanu will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early. Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast._

"Brilliant, we have Potions last thing on Friday!" Harry smiled. "Snape won't have a chance to poison us."

"Not enough faith in your potion, Potter?" Jacob asked in a voice that sounded vaguely like Snape.

"Shut it, you," he growled, with a smile. "Just because you're a mad scientist down there doesn't mean it'll go perfectly…especially with Snape around."

"Hello, Jacob!" They turned to see Luna and Ginny heading toward them.

"Hello, Luna." Jacob nodded. "Ginny, how are you?"

"Fine, thank you," Luna answered, in her usual dreamy voice. "Better hurry or they'll be no more chocolate pudding." She smiled, almost playfully, before walking into the Great Hall.

"Mr. Riddle!" a voice yelled as they made their way up the stairs. They turned to see Professor McGonagall walking toward them. "Might I have a moment of your time?"

"I didn't do it!" Jacob said hurriedly.

"Do what?"

"Uh…nothing…"

"Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak with you," she said turning and briskly walking away. Jacob looked confused, but followed, saying that he'd talk to them later.

For the next week, the Triwizard Tournament was the only topic of conversation and the teachers seemed to be constantly on edge. When the thirtieth finally arrived, the entire school waited expectantly outside the castle. Students chatted excitedly about how the other schools would appear. It was nearly six, when Dumbledore finally announced, "Unless I'm mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons is arriving!"

Students watched in awe as a gigantic powder blue, palomino drawn carriage, flew through the air, and landed with a loud crash. When it had completely stopped, the carriage doors opened and a very tall woman appeared, followed by about a dozen boys and girls, all wearing clothes the same shade of blue as the carriage.

"My dear Madame Maxime," Dumbledore said, kissing the woman's hand, without even having to tilt his head, though he was quite tall himself. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr, I 'ope I find you well? 'Ave Karkaroff and Marikai arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked in a deep voice.

"Karkaroff will be here any moment," Dumbledore answered. "Please, go inside and warm up a trifle." She nodded kindly, as she walked past him, her students not far behind.

A short while later, a large ship suddenly sprung from the lake and scared a few students. As it reached the shore, a tall thin man, much like Dumbledore himself, walked out with his students, and shook Dumbledore's hand.

"How good is it to be here," the man smiled with yellow rotted teeth, looking around the castle. "Viktor, come along into the warmth…If you don't mind, Dumbledore. He has a bit of a head cold."

"Not at all, Igor," Dumbledore smiled. "Madame Maxime is already inside."

Karkaroff headed inside, his students following.

Dumbledore took a small watch out of his pocket, about ten minutes later. Looking back toward Harry and Ron, he smiled, eyes twinkling. "Mr. Riddle, I believe it's time."

From behind Harry, Jacob stepped out with a slightly annoyed sigh. "Never thought I'd know a spell Albus Dumbledore didn't know," he muttered with a smile handing the Headmaster a piece of paper. "Actually, I never thought I'd have to…" He shook his head, "Why bother whining? No point."

Dumbledore nodded, still smiling and stepped back. "The floor is yours."

Jacob laughed hollowly, pulling out his wand and turning around. "_Ad ianua Jeanu!_" he roared with a sharp flick of his wand. A turquoise jet struck the ground and not even a second later, a large wooden door shot up from the earth. After a moment, the door opened and a man stepped out.

He was tall and fairly young, but looked wise beyond his years with black hair and blue eyes with which he surveyed the students. "Dumbledore, my friend," the man smiled his voice very deep. "I didn't think you would know that one. I'm surprised."

"Actually, Jason, I didn't." Dumbledore smiled back, shaking the man's hand firmly. "I had to ask a former student of yours."

"And how is the lad?"

"I'm doing fine, Master Marikai," Jacob replied, "and yourself? Still alive I see."

"Jacob Riddle!" McGonagall gasped, horrified.

The two glared at each other for a moment before they both burst out laughing. "Still the same sense of humor, eh, boy?" Marikai laughed, pulling Jacob into a hug. "Come Dumbledore; let's not keep Karkaroff and Maxime waiting any longer." He turned to the door. "It's good you lot!" As he finished, a line of about a dozen or so kids walked out briskly and followed Marikai and Dumbledore into the school.

Dinner was quite interesting with foods from the different countries. "We call them French fries, Ron, not…well, whatever the hell you called it," Jacob corrected laughing, halfway through dinner. "Chips to us are a type of thin potato wafer."

"Jacob," Ginny sighed, catching they young man's attention.

"Hm…?"

"Who's that?" she asked, nodding toward the Ravenclaw table. "He seems to be bothering Luna."

The three turned to see a brown haired boy in a black shirt and pants, hitting on a clearly freaked out Luna. The boy kept trying to put his arm around her while talking with a mouthful of food. She caught their eyes and sent a pleading look in their direction.

Jacob sighed and shook his head. "He's been here less than two hours and he's already making an ass of himself. Aura always thought he had only three brain cells—eat, sleep, and speech." He smiled at Harry and Ginny.

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, so you're talking to me now?" he asked which earned an eye rolling. "Just kidding, she's my little sister."

"Where is she?" Hermione asked, looking around.

"Tell you later," he said standing and putting up his hood. "I've got to go save Moonshine from a half-wit." He smiled, heading toward the Ravenclaw table with a spring in his step.

"_Moonshine_?" Ginny giggled. "That's so cute! I wonder what nickname she gave him."

"Probably something odd," Ron groaned. "That girl's mental."

"You're just jealous you don't have a nickname," she argued. "How about 'Won-Won'?"

Harry laughed while taking a sip of pumpkin juice and started choking.

"Hell no!" Ron said, going red. "I'll cut my fingers off before I'm called that!"

Ginny laughed and turned to Harry, who had begun to breath normally again. "You're NOT giving me a nickname," he told her picking at his food. "I've got enough."

Just then, magic wiped the plates clean, and Dumbledore stood up. "The time has come. Mr. Filch, the casket if you please." There was a long silence as the caretaker lugged a very heavy looking casket to Dumbledore and set it at his feet. He opened it and pulled out a wooden goblet filled with blue-white fire. "Anyone wishing to enter the Tournament must write their name and school on a piece of paper and cast it into the fire. Tomorrow night, the Goblet of Fire will choose those most worthy of competing, but I warn you, if you enter and the Goblet chooses you, a magical contract binds you and you MUST compete. I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet to ensure no one under the age of seventeen for us and thirteen for the Americans can enter—and believe me, it will know the difference. From this point on, the Triwizard Tournament has begun."

"An Age Line, eh?" Fred Weasley said, eyes glittering with mischief. "An Aging Potion should handle that."

"I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," Hermione sighed. "I'm surprised that the legal age is thirteen for the Americans." It had been an hour since Dumbledore's speech and students were milling about the Entrance Hall excitedly.

"That's because we're better than you people," an arrogant voice informed her. They turned to see the same boy that had bothered Luna. "We're much more talented than a bunch of Brits."

"Now, now…you know that's not true, Michael." Jacob smiled walking past him, with Luna following behind. "The spells that they teach here are more of a defensive type. Yes, they do teach how to attack, but not as much as Jeanu." He caught Hermione's questioning glance. "Think of Jeanu as the polar opposite of Hogwarts. While you are taught defense and offense, we have a lot of free study to look into what we want to learn; much more than just our seventh year." As he was talking, no one noticed the gathering crowd. "America doesn't classify a spell as light or dark either. It's all about intent for us. This is, in my opinion, a good outlook. Hell, I could kill you with a levitation charm if I wanted." He smiled, his gaze turning back to his former classmate.

Michael looked at Jacob in disgust. "I didn't know they let murderers in this school. Humph, go figure."

"I would think you of all people would be afraid of me," Jacob said, still smiling. "I'm even more surprised you're actually here, Weber. God knows you don't have a backbone."

The boy sneered. "That little bitch never did know how to tell good from bad," Michael smirked, ignoring the other American's gasps. "Too bad she found out too late, huh?"

Jacob's smile disappeared. "Don't you _dare _insult Aura like that, in front of me! You, of all people, should know better!"

"Tell me, Riddle; did you enjoy listening to her beg for mercy, before you killed her?"

Before anyone could react, Jacob's wand was in his hand. As it appeared from his sleeve, Luna stepped in front of him and grabbed his arm. "Don't," she pleaded, "he's not worth it."

Jacob looked hesitant, but lowered his wand, nodding. "You're right," he whispered to her. "He's not worthy to lick the scum off my shoes." He growled at Michael, turned, and began to walk away, when someone pushed him down.

There was an audible gasp, and he turned to see Luna on the ground convulsing wildly. Ginny and Hermione rushed to her and held her head steady. Jacob's head snapped to Michael who had his wand out, and a smile of his face. Jacob shot to his feet, wand out in a second once more, murder in his eyes.

"Undo it!" he roared.

"No."

"_Ardere!_" Jacob roared. A jet of purple light shot out of his wand, but Michael deflected it.

"_Casus!_" A yellow jet shot out of Michael's wand, but Jacob blocked it.

"Undo it NOW!" Jacob roared eyes filled with a hunted look, voice strained.

"Make me." Michael smiled mockingly.

"_Superat!_"

"_Finite!_" Michael yelled as he flew up stopping the spell before he became stuck to the ceiling. Spells and curses began to fly causing occasional damage as they struck walls and floors. Some students ran while others hid and stayed to watch.

Harry watched as Michael summoned a deadly looking snake that slithered toward Jacob from behind. He was about to tell the snake to stop when a voice only he could understand spoke. "_Do it and you will die serpent_." He looked to see Jacob glaring, not at Michael but the snake. "_Leave_," he hissed and the snake slithered away. Seconds later, a flying curse killed it.

"_Cariok,_" an angry red shield, deflected a jet of yellow light heading toward Michael.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Jacob roared, shattering the shield and hitting Michael in chest, sending him sprawling across the room. In an instant, Jacob was on him both wands at his throat. "Un-Do-It-NOW!" Michael looked ready to wet himself; grabbing his wand, he flicked it toward Luna, who stopped convulsing.

Without missing a stride, Jacob got off him and strode toward Luna; Dumbledore, Marikai, and McGonagall chose that moment to rush into the hall, wands out. The three examined the damage with wide eyes.

"What happened here?" Professor McGonagall demanded.

"HE CURSED ME!" Michael yelled rushing to his feet, as Jacob carried an unconscious Luna.

"That's a lie!" Fred and George yelled.

"What?"

"No!" There were more shouts of protest, even among the Americans, before Dumbledore silenced them.

"Half-truth," Jacob said coldly as the crowd finally calmed down. "He hit Luna with a Convulsing Hex meant for me, and I—quite violently—persuaded him to remove it." He focused his eyes on Marikai and Dumbledore. "I attacked a foreign delegation, for that I am sorry and I will take my punishment willingly, but please make sure Luna is all right. I'm pretty sure the intent was ill and she's not used to a spell of that kind."

No one said a word as the three teachers stared at Jacob intently. "Fifty house points from Gryffindor and a week of detention. Jason, please grab your student and meet me in my office, while Minerva and I escort Miss Lovegood and Mr. Riddle to the hospital wing. We will discuss this further there." Dumbledore sighed. Marikai nodded, took Mike roughly by the shoulder, and dragged him up the stairs, whispering angrily in the boy's ear.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Jacob," the Hogwarts Headmaster sighed. "Aura would not like this behavior. You could have ended the hex yourself, but gave into your memories." Jacob flinched visibly at the mention of his sister, but didn't meet the man's eyes. "Although I must commend you on defending a fellow student, the situation could have been handled better. Everyone return to your dormitories." He smiled at the onlookers. "Jacob, come along," he said turning and walking calmly down the hall, Jacob and McGonagall not far behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**At long last, Chapter Four of The Second Riddle! As usual, Comments, Questions, Reviews and Flames are Welcome!**

**~Kingdom219**


	5. The Champions

The Champions 

No one saw Jacob again that night and he wasn't in bed when Harry went to get him for a late breakfast the next morning. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sat in the Great Hall watching students put their names into the Goblet of Fire. Dumbledore had had the damage done by the duel in the Entrance Hall fixed, but that didn't keep people from talking about it.

"Did you see the way he fought?" a second year girl sighed dreamily. "It was amazing."

"Who, Riddle?" her friend asked. The other girl blushed and nodded.

"I think he's crazy," a boy commented. "His eyes looked insane. I wonder what that American was talking about when he said he 'didn't think they let murderers in this school?'" The conversation just dragged on from there, girls on Jacob's side, boys on the other. At least, that's how it seemed to Harry.

"He's with Professor Snape," Luna said, appearing next to Ginny with a bowl of chocolate pudding in her hand. Madam Pomfrey had said that she was fine, just a little shaken. She had been quiet since learning what happened.

"How are you?" Ginny asked softly, rubbing her friend's back.

"Fine…just worried about Jacob," she sighed, picking at the pudding with a spoon. "He doesn't deserve to be treated like he's a killer by the Americans he didn't mean to do it," she whispered.

"Do what?" Hermione asked curiously, if a tad annoyed. Luna just shook her head not answering.

Just then, a loud cheer made its way down the room and Fred and George ran in smiling widely.

"Done it," Fred declared.

"Just taken it," George smiled.

"Taken what?" Harry asked.

"The Ageing Potion, just a drop," Fred said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's not going to work," Hermione said in a singsong way.

"Why's that Granger?"

"That Age Line was drawn by Dumbledore," she said, rolling her eyes.

Fred and George just laughed as they headed for the Goblet. "Ready, Gred?"

"Ready, Forge, one, two, three!" They leapt into the ring.

There was a sudden sizzling sound and an invisible cannon seemed to throw Fred and George out of the ring before they even had a chance to touch the ground. The twins landed painfully on the floor, sporting long white beards, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

Just as quickly, though, the laughter stopped as Viktor Krum with five other students strode into the hall, and put their names into the Goblet. Michael limped in right behind him, and did the same. Harry noticed Luna glare at the boy, which was very unlike her, from what he'd seen. He returned her glare and smirked.

"Riddle's not here, eh?" he asked her, turning around and nearly crashing right into Jacob.

"Right here, Mike," he smiled. They boy glared at him before limping off. "Hope your leg feels better," Jacob called after him, although he had an odd expression on his face. He turned around to see Luna right in front of him. "Any pudding left?" he asked, smiling. She smiled and handed him the bowl. "You're a life saver, Moonshine," he sighed, digging in with a grateful smile. "So, what'd I miss?"

* * *

><p>That night, all four schools sat excitedly in the Great Hall. Jacob, Ginny, and Luna sat with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they waited for the selection of the champions to begin.<p>

"You're a Parselmouth," Harry whispered to Jacob as the other four began talking to each other.

"Yeah," Jacob answered, looking confused. "Is that bad?"

"So am I," Harry confided shaking his head. "Not many people like it though. They say it's a sign of a Dark Wizard."

Jacob snorted in his goblet. "If I'm a Dark Wizard, I want to know what that makes Voldemort."

"You're not afraid to say his name?"

"It's just a name. In France it means Flight from Death."

Harry smiled. "I don't think you're a Dark Wizard."

"Oh thank heavens!" Jacob laughed. "_The _Harry Potter is saying I'm not evil."

"Prat."

"Ha-ha, no really…thank you." Jacob smiled, turning to Luna. "You okay, Moonshine?"

She smiled happily and nodded. "Did you enter?"

"Nope," he replied. "Unless someone put my name in, I've got a normal year."

Ginny turned to Harry, leaving Jacob and Luna to their own conversation. He smiled and answered before the question came out. "I can't, remember?" he sighed, smiling. "Besides, I get enough attention as it is. I plan on having a normal year for once." Ron and Hermione laughed at that, while Jacob looked confused. "I'll explain later," Harry told him.

"The Goblet of Fire is just about ready," Dumbledore called, silencing the Hall. "When the champions are selected, they will proceed down the staff table and into the next chamber where they will receive further instructions." Just then, the flames in the Goblet turned red, sparks flew and a long tongue of flame shot into the air with a piece of paper attached, which Dumbledore caught. "The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!" The hall burst into cheers as Krum stood and walked into the side chamber. The flames went red and another piece of paper flew out, hushing the Hall once more. "The Beauxbatons champion is Fleur Delacour!" Amidst the cheering in the Hall, Harry could see some of the girls and a few boys from Beauxbatons crying. The flames once again went red, and another piece of paper flew out. "The Hogwarts champion is…Cedric Diggory!"

"NO!" Ron yelled, but the cheering crowd from the Hufflepuff table drowned out his cries of protest.

The flames went red again and spat once more. "Finally, the Jeanu champion is…" Dumbledore stopped, his face quickly paling, and looked down at the paper like a man who had just realized something important he had forgotten to do. "Jacob Riddle!"

Several of the American students stood up and cheered, but a confused and angry Marikai quickly silenced them. Luna gasped, and clutched Jacob's arm. "Jacob…"

"I know." He smiled sadly, as if he had expected this. Harry knew that deep down he had. He stood up, patting her head softly, before turning to Harry. "Told you so," he sighed before walking to Dumbledore. The man looked like he wanted to say something, but Jacob just nodded to him and moved quietly into the chamber.

The aged wizard stood silent for a moment before clearing his throat. "Excellent!" he said. "We now have our four champions. I'm sure all of you will support your school champion, by doing so, you contribute a very real…" Dumbledore stopped. The fire had turned red again and spat out another piece of paper, before going out completely. He caught the paper and read. "Harry Potter!"

The silence was deafening as students at the Gryffindor table forcefully pushed Harry to his feet. Every eye was on him.

CRASH

"WHO PUT A FRIGGIN' GOBLET ON THE STAIRS?" Jacob yelled irritably.

"Sorry mate!" Fred and George called.

Sadly, apart from a giggle from Luna, the commotion did nothing to break the tension. Harry, as if in a trance, made his way past the tables, the angry students, worried teachers, and down the steps. He found himself in a dimly lit room with a fire in the front of him. Around the fire sat Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, Cedric Diggory, and Jacob Riddle.

"So someone screwed you over too, huh?" Jacob smiled sadly, standing up.

"What is zat supposed to mean?" Fleur asked heatedly.

Just then, Madame Maxime, Karkaroff, Ludo Bagman, Bartemius Crouch, Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore came bustling in.

"What is ze meaning of zis?" Madame Maxime asked imperiously.

"I'd like to know myself, Dumbledore," Karkaroff added. "Three Hogwarts champions?"

"The Goblet selected Jacob as the Jeanu champion," Marikai sighed. "He has to compete for us."

"I'm sorry Jacob," Dumbledore said. "I had completely forgotten that if you can summon the entrance to Jeanu, you are still considered a student there. Your arrival here was just too sudden."

"Don't be." Jacob smiled. "No one's perfect. Everyone makes a mistake every now and then. I'm more concerned about how Harry's name was put in."

"It's obvious…" Dumbledore cut Snape off.

"Did you put your name into the Goblet, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, calmly.

"No." Snape made a small noise.

"Did you ask an older student to do it?"

"No, I never wanted to enter, I swear."

"'E is lying!" cried Madame Maxime.

"He isn't," Jacob sighed, looking at her. "He's told me on many occasions that he's got enough fame as it is. I'll swear on my magic if I have to."

"Maybe YOU put his name in, boy," Karkaroff snarled, giving Jacob a look.

"Ha-ha…you would think that, wouldn't you," Jacob laughed.

"He's been in detention with me all day," Snape commented.

"I demand that my students submit their names until each school has two champions," Karkaroff snapped.

"The Goblet has already gone out and won't light again until the next Tournament," Ludo Bagman informed him.

"In which Durmstrang will not be competing!" Karkaroff exploded. "I have half a mind to leave now!"

"An empty threat," a gruff voice growled. "You can't leave your champion now, he has to compete, binding magical contract. Convenient, eh?"

"What does zat mean?"

"Yes, when ze little boy walked in, Riddle asked if someone 'screwed 'im over'," Fleur added.

"Meaning that someone put Potter's name into the Goblet, knowing he'd have to compete if it came out," Moody said.

"I don't hear him complaining," Karkaroff said. Jacob mumbled something along the lines of 'if you'd give him a chance…'

"Why should 'e?" Maxime added. "Zis is a chance people would die for."

"Maybe that's the plan," Moody growled.

A tense silence followed. "Moody…old man, what a thing to say," Bagman gasped.

"It would take a very powerful Confundus Charm to make the Goblet think _five_ schools were competing in a Tournament that is only supposed to have three schools to begin with."

"You seem to have given this some thought, 'Mad-Eye'," Karkaroff said coldly.

"Come off it!" Jacob yelled. "He's an Auror, that's his job! Besides, anyone with a brain and a history book knows Harry has plenty of enemies; most of them connected to Voldemort and his followers, who, if I'm reading the _Prophet_ correctly, have made more appearances this year than normal. I-"

"Jacob that's enough!" Marikai said warningly. The boy huffed, looking at the ground. "We can't do anything now," the American Headmaster explained calmly to the other school heads. "Hogwarts will have two champions, but if anyone has any suggestions on how to fix this, then by all means, do tell, because frankly, I'm at a loss."

Nobody spoke.

"Now then," Crouch spoke, his tone dry, almost hollow sounding. "The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth. We will not be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality for a wizard or witch. You may not ask for or receive help from teachers to complete the tasks. You will be armed with only your wand for the first task. We will explain the second task after you complete the first. Due to the time consuming nature of the Tournament, you are exempted from end-of year tests."

"Jacob, you'll take classes here, but you can't wear your robes." Marikai smiled. "You must support the school you're playing for."

"Normal clothes it is then," Jacob sighed. "Come on people, the more competition the better, right?" He smiled at the other four champions.

It was a façade…Harry knew Jacob was just as worried about this as he was.

* * *

><p>Harry and Jacob walked up to Gryffindor Tower, half an hour later, in silence. Jacob had changed into a gold long-sleeved button-down shirt that he left open to show a red t-shirt, and multi-pocketed blue jeans.<p>

"You don't think I put my name in, do you?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.

"Not at all, buddy," Jacob answered, "but Cedric and I are probably the only ones," he added hearing the noise coming from the common room.

As they entered, Ginny immediately grabbed Harry and began asking questions about who had put his name in the Goblet and if he could get out of it. "I could be wrong, though!" Jacob laughed as people dragged him away so they could get to Harry.

For hours, people were asking questions about how he did it or congratulating him on making it in. After a while, he was getting very annoyed about it. Apparently, Ginny read his mind.

"All right people, let's give this champion some air, shall we?" she said, though she wasn't smiling.

"It's late; let's get to bed," Jacob added.

"Shouldn't you be with _your_ school?" a sixth year asked, glaring.

"Lay off him," Harry growled causing the student to take a step back. Soon, everyone but Jacob, Ginny, and Harry had left for bed.

"You know, Luna's going to kill me," Jacob laughed.

"She doesn't seem violent," Harry said. "Just a bit...uh, spacey."

"You don't see the side I do." He smiled. "Hey, what did you mean when you said you wanted a normal year? Aren't most of your years normal?"

Harry laughed and explained what had happened during his first three years at Hogwarts. Starting with the Philosopher's Stone and the trials, he had faced with Hermione and Ron. Then, he talked about his second year, with Ginny jumping in to tell her side of the Chamber of Secrets and Tom Marvolo Riddle's diary. Then his third year with Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black—his godfather—Professor Lupin, The Marauder's Map and the Dementors.

"So that's about it," Harry sighed. "I just can't seem to have a normal year."

Ginny placed a comforting hand on his shoulder although she was clearly surprised that so much had happened to him, having never heard most of it before.

"I guess not," Jacob said softly, looking like he was thinking about something. He shook his head. "So that's why Hermione doesn't trust me, huh, because my last name is Riddle?"

"I guess so," Ginny sighed. "She's being stupid about it."

"Actually, it makes sense." Jacob smiled. "Hopefully, she'll come around. Well, I'm off to bed and you two should follow, separately, I might add." He smirked at their blushing faces. "It's going to be one hell of a day."


	6. Weighing of the Wands

Wand Weighing

The next few weeks were the worst in Harry's time at Hogwarts. With the exception of Gryffindor, every house seemed to hate him. He expected some animosity from Hufflepuff, and Slytherin never got along with Gryffindor, but he didn't understand the Ravenclaws attitudes. Not only did three-fourths of the school hate him, Ron was not speaking to him.

"He's jealous," Hermione told Harry the morning after The Goblet chose him.

Harry still thought Ron of all people should have known better than to believe that he would _want _to put his name in. So far, he had five people who believed him whenever he said he didn't put his name into the Goblet—Ginny, Hermione, Jacob, Cedric, and Hagrid.

_Speaking of Jacob_, he thought as he headed toward Potions.

He really felt sorry for the kid. Professor Marikai still hadn't found out who put his name into the Goblet, and any hope of doing so was fading fast. No one from Hogwarts was particularly nice to Jacob now that he was the American champion. With the exception of teachers, Ginny, Fred, George, Luna, and Harry were his only support. Hermione was still wary of him, even after Harry told her what had happened to Jacob before he arrived at Hogwarts. To make matters worse, the Americans seemed to have found a new way to 'support' their champion.

"Want to buy a badge?" a boy asked, jumping in front of him. It was bright orange with blue writing. _Support Jacob Riddle!_ the badge read. Suddenly it spun and turned a horrid brown and yellow color, _The Jeanu Killer_.

"Ah…no…"

_I don't want Luna to hex me_, he thought with a smile. Luna had cast a Bat-Bogey Hex on two girls that had tried to sell her one, earning her two nights of detention. "I have to admit…hers is probably on par with Ginny's," he murmured as Hermione caught up with him and they headed to the dungeons.

"Where's Jacob?" he asked her, getting a shrug in return. He suppressed a groan of annoyance seeing the Slytherins wearing bright green badges with luminous red letters sporting the phrase _Support CEDRIC DIGGORY—the REAL Hogwarts Champion!_

"I think I agree with Jacob about Malfoy," Hermione sighed.

"You like them, Potter?" Malfoy said smugly. "We got the idea from the Americans. That's not all." Each of the students pressed a button and the badges swirled to show _POTTER STINKS_ in the same bright red. "I see your lap dog isn't here, though. I'd imagine he's too ashamed to show his filthy little face."

"At least the Americans made the background and word colors change," Harry said. "Does this bring your imagination up to a five-year-olds now?"

"Riddle's not here to protect you," Malfoy growled, reaching into his pocket.

"You wouldn't do that if he was here," Ron growled. "Didn't he stun you _before _Moody turned you into a bouncing little ferret?" Harry hadn't seen him appear, but Ron wasn't paying attention to him, so he tried to ignore Ron.

Malfoy sneered, but kept quiet as Snape appeared and strode into the classroom, the students following close behind.

"You should all have your antidote recipes completed by now. At the end of class, we'll be selecting someone…" Suddenly, the dungeon door opened with a loud creak and Colin Creevey and Jacob's heads popped into view.

"Riddle, why are you late?" Snape snapped.

"I-"

"It doesn't matter, twenty-five points from Gryffindor."

"Sir, that's unfair," Jacob said. "Mr. Bagman wants the champions—all of them," he sighed, eyeing Harry.

"It's true, sir," Colin squeaked. "I collected Jacob on the way down here and we need Harry too. Something for the _Daily Prophet_, I think." Jacob rolled his eyes. "And he has to take his things."

Snape went red, his head whipping around to stare at Harry. "Fine, Potter, take your belongings and leave—NOW!"

Harry didn't need Snape to tell him again.

The three walked briskly out of the dungeons and into the Entrance Hall in silence—well, Jacob and Harry were silent anyway. Colin wished Harry luck and Harry and Jacob entered a small classroom.

Someone had pushed all the desks to the side and velvet curtains hung around the windows. At the front of the room, Bagman and a witch in magenta robes were talking. Harry noticed the angry glare Jacob sent her. Cedric and Fleur were having a conversation in one corner of the room while Krum was staring moodily in the opposite direction. Marikai smiled slightly at them.

"Ah, here are champions four and five! Come in you two, the other judges will be here soon," Bagman called when he noticed them. "It's just the Wand Weighing ceremony—got to see if everything is in top shape with them," he continued. "This is Rita Skeeter. She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the _Daily Prophet_."

"Maybe not that small," she smiled, eyeing Harry and Jacob, Harry noticed that she gave Jacob a dark if not apprehensive look. "I wonder if I could have a word with Harry—youngest champion, you know…to add a bit of color."

Jacob grabbed Harry's shoulder. "People will believe anything the media says," he whispered. Harry gave him an odd look before Rita dragged him to a broom closet.

"That look you gave her…I thought you were going to throw down," Marikai laughed.

"For a second, I did too," Jacob sighed. "I imagine most of her questions will be about his parents, why he wanted to be in the Tournament, and how he sees me." Jacob laughed. "Then she'll twist his answers to suit her needs." He sighed tiredly, looking at the ground. "She's one the reasons I'm hated…made me look like a Death Eater in training. Quite well I might add."

"Almost too well," his former Headmaster smiled patting him on the back.

Just then, Dumbledore, Karkaroff, and Maxime walked in. Jacob could have sworn that Dumbledore rolled his eyes before collecting a confused and angry looking Harry from Rita as she and Harry walked back over to the group.

"May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?" Dumbledore said, sitting with the other judges at the table facing the five champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure they're in good condition before the Tournament."

Jacob suppressed a shout of surprise as a large eyed man stepped from the windows and said in a grave voice, "Mademoiselle Delacour if you please." Fleur stepped forward fluidly and handed him her wand, which he studied carefully. "Nine and a half inches…inflexible…rosewood…and containing…dear me…"

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a Veela," Fleur said, "one of my grandmuzzer's."

"Yes, yes, I've never used Veela hair. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands, but to each their own…and if this suits you. Mr. Diggory you're next."

Cedric handed him his wand muttering that he had just polished it, causing Harry and Jacob to snort. Ollivander handed it back after a short inspection and a few amused words between the two. Jacob tuned out when Krum handed the old man his wand, only catching the name Gregorovitch. He watched as Ollivander inspected Harry's wand with complete fascination, before handing it back.

"And finally, Mr. Riddle," he smiled. "Would you happen to be related to a Tom Riddle?"

"I was an orphan," Jacob smiled, "and living in America, so I doubt it." He handed Ollivander his wand.

"Oh my…I haven't seen a wand like this for many years…" Ollivander smiled like a kid in a candy store. "This is a Fredric Baiter creation."

"Yes the last one…"

"Twelve and a quarter inches…cherry…strong and flexible at the same time…containing a phoenix feather and…"

"The stain has seven drops of unicorn blood—willingly given of course," Jacob finished. "A personal thank you he gave me. He was a good man."

"Indeed he was and an even better wand maker; nearly on par with my own work," Ollivander sighed and chuckled slightly before handing him the wand. "Thank you all."

"Now, I'm sure you're all famished so off to dinner with you." Dumbledore smiled. Just then, the man with the camera cleared his throat.

"Photos, Dumbledore, photos!" Bagman cried happily. Harry and Jacob both gave an audible groan of annoyance; it would be another hour before they could get something to eat.

* * *

><p>Jacob couldn't help but give a little chuckle as he and Harry walked down the halls towards the Great Hall. Well, he wouldn't describe what Harry was doing as walking but more of a stalking or angry stride. He doubted Harry could feel it, but his magic was giving off a gentle breeze due to his anger. <em>'A very powerful wizard indeed…'<em> Jacob smiled. "So, how'd the interview go?"

"Don't…errg…" Harry growled, giving the American a sidelong glance. "That woman is a menace! If I had known the questions she was going to ask, I would have said no!" The boy-who-lived continued angrily. "'What is it like being underage in the tournament?' 'What would your parents think?' Half the bloody tripe that was on that sheet of parchment, I didn't even say!"

"Skeeter does that, Harry." Jacob said calmly, as the two turned the corner and began to walk down the moving staircase. "She's the reason a good portion of my school hates my guts. She takes events and people, no matter who they may be, and tears them down."

Harry sighed, stopping as the staircase had sudden began to move, thankfully in the correct direction they wanted it to go. Running a hand through his hair and looked at his friend. "She'll really do that?" He watched Riddle as the young man gave a sad nod. "Damn…I _really_ don't need this shite."

"I hear you there, Bud." Jacob laughed, stepping into the corridor that would lead them to the great hall. "I'm not sure you can really do anything about it."

Harry gave a dark, short chuckle as he saw the great doors come into sight. "I wonder if the wizarding world has Libel Laws?"

Jacob gave a loud laugh as he opened the doors to the many students munching on their dinner and talking excitedly.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**Here is chapter 6 of The Second Riddle. I'm sorry that it's so short, but I really had a hard time with it even with**** suggestion by** **Tinian I'att.**

**Anyway, I have 7 through 9 in my Word program and I'm currently looking them over along with everything else. Chapter Updates may be a bit more sporadic due to School starting up again. (Not only that, but I'm on Academic Probation =/ **) **But rest assured, I'll continue to update my stories when I get the chance.**

**As always: Review, Questions, Comments, and Flames are welcome!**

**~Kingdom219**


	7. The First Task

The First Task

"That little witch!" Ginny exclaimed, slamming down the _Daily Prophet_ during breakfast a week later, for what seemed like the twelfth time in the school year.

"Figuratively speaking," Jacob added, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"_TROUBLE IN THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT_," Ginny read with a scowl. "_The Triwizard Tournament is known for its dangerous aspects_, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent, _but this time, it seems dangerous tasks will be the least of the champions' worries. The American champion, as it turns out, is none other than Jacob Andrew Riddle. Many of my dear readers may know Mr. Riddle as the boy who cold bloodedly tortured his ten year-old adopted sister before killing her. He escaped incarceration with the help of Albus Dumbledore stating the _boy_ was under the Imperius curse. Imagine my surprise when Jacob walked into the Wand Weighing ceremony, dark eyes glaring at everyone, with a clearly scared Harry Potter. 'He kind of reminds me of what You-Know-Who was like at this age_,_' Harry stuttered during our interview. 'I really don't like him.'_"

Jacob began to cough before bursting into laughter. "So I go from 'a child with eyes filled with the utmost evil' to the second coming of Voldemort?"

Harry snatched the paper from Ginny and scanned down. "I do _not_ cry about my parents at night," he gasped in shock. Suddenly, he turned an odd shade of red. "Uh…Hermione," he stammered, handing her the paper.

She read it over before gasping angrily. "That bitch!" she growled, ignoring the reminders of her language from Ron. "_Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school_ they're going to think we're dating," she groaned. "People won't believe this…they…they can't."

"People will believe anything the media says," Jacob recited, taking the paper. "Let's see…ah, yes, _Riddle is also seen in the company of one Luna Lovegood, daughter of the editor of the often flighty The Quibbler, although there is no evidence, yet, that she is being controlled for the boy's dark purposes._ Blah, blah, blah, dark me, emo-Harry, Blah, blah, blah three school champions, names misspelled, Blah, blah, no mention of anything that is actually fact. Yep she does it again. Thatta girl, Rita." He smiled hollowly, as he crumpled up the paper and tossed it into his goblet. "Another award winning lie."

"How can you be so cheerful?" Hermione asked annoyed.

"Well…I guess I'm use to people dragging my name through the mud or judging me before they get to know me," he explained. Hermione sat back and just stared crestfallen at her food. "Harry, do you have any clue what the first task is?"

"Uh…no."

"Well, if you find out," Jacob said as the bell rang, "don't tell me, please."

"What? Why? These tasks are dangerous!"

"I like surprises," he said with a shrug as he stood up and collected his bag. "Besides," he added darkly with a backward glance. "It'll give the bitch a story if I die."

Harry felt a shiver going up his spine as he watched his friend leave. _Is that what Rita's done to him? _he thought. _No…no, that's what life has done to him**.**_

* * *

><p>He watched everything with a dull sense of his surroundings. The walls were as he always remembered, just as white and boring as usual. The table in a perfect position to trip over, pictures on the wall oddly askew, and the television playing that same old <em>Degrassi<em> show Aura always watched. He smiled. All was as it should be.

Then, he felt something dripping from his hands. Looking down, he gasped in horror at the red, sticky liquid falling from his fingertips. Suddenly the scene shifted and there were four bodies in black robes, faces unrecognizable, piled all around him as the room burned. He screamed.

Jacob's eyes snapped open as he let out a horrified gasp. Looking around wildly, he dimly realized that he was on the school grounds next to the lake. Wiping his forehead, he groaned as he realized that he had broken out in a cold sweat…again.

"I thought I'd find you here," a lofty voice said cheerfully. He turned quickly to see Luna staring at him with a soft smile on her face. "You're too jumpy." She giggled.

"Luna…" he smiled uncertainly, "uh…hey."

"What was it about?" she asked, sitting next to him and taking on a more serious face. It always surprised him how easily she could switch facial expression from flighty to serious. He found it rather alluring to tell the truth.

"Pardon?"

"The dream," she clarified. "What was it about?"

His face fell and he looked sad. "What I did," he murmured. "What I did to those people…to Aura."

"Why do you blame yourself?" she asked. "You didn't mean to do what you did."

"But it felt like I was…" He sighed. "I saw everything. She knew it wasn't…she begged….the look on her face was just…" He moaned pitifully.

"Have you figured out what you're going to do about the first task?"

He laughed hollowly, giving her a sideways glance. "Good subject change." He stopped smiling when he saw her worried expression.

"Why do you laugh like that?"

"Maybe, subconsciously…I think that if I die, she'll forgive me…OW!" Luna had punched—not slapped—_punched _him in the side of the head.

"_I _think she'd be angry—furious even," she growled. "I know_ I_ would."

"Not the best thing to say, huh?" He smiled sheepishly. She glared and nodded. "Okay, how 'bout this: if I seem like I'm trying to get myself killed, I give you full permission to hex me five times."

"It's tempting…" She still had her eyes narrowed, was still appraising him.

"Oh come on!" he laughed. "Most people I know would give an arm to get that kind of deal."

She giggled. "Okay, fine. Now about the dragons…"

"Dragons?" he gasped a slight gleam in his eyes. "The first task is dragons? How'd you find out?"

"I heard it from Ginny who heard it from Ron, who heard it from Hagrid, who told Parvati, who…" Jacob put his hand over her mouth.

"Ginny is good enough," he said, "but I don't know what to do…magic won't work very well against a fully grown dragon."

"I'm sure you'll find a way." She smiled.

"I hope so…" He seemed unsure of himself.

"Promise me something," Luna whispered staring at the ground.

"Sure." He stiffened when she suddenly pulled him into a hug.

"Promise me you'll be careful," she whispered into his shoulder. "It would really suck to see one of my best friends eaten by a giant lizard."

"Um…yeah," he stuttered. "I will….promise."

She giggled again. "You're too jumpy," she whispered in his ear, causing him to turn bright red. "I guess I'll have to fix that. Let's head back, it's late, and you've got a big day coming up." He nodded dumbly, following her.

"Hey Moonshine…" Jacob said as they were about to part ways. She turned and looked at him with a soft flush across her cheeks. "Thank you." She sent him a dazzling smile before turning the corner, with a skip in her step.

* * *

><p>Harry sat back in the armchair in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room after having a talk with his godfather, Sirius Black. While he loved the man to death, his advice was less than helpful, and more than a bit hypocritical, but the gist of it was to stay low and out of trouble.<p>

"Yeah," Harry sighed tiredly. "Easier said than done…"

Not only did he need to worry about his godfather, who thought that he should come waltzing back despite being a wanted man, he also had deal with the 'little' surprise that Hagrid had shown him earlier that night. The large man had wanted to show him something at the ridiculous hour of midnight. That particular something had turned out to be dragons, bloody dragons as the first task! Once again, he felt the familiar feeling of dread seep into his stomach at the thought of facing the large creatures, and coupled with the possibility of the Ministry of Magic recapturing Sirius, Harry doubted he would be sleeping anytime soon.

He ran a shaking hand through his unkempt hair as he stood and paced, trying to calm himself, but it didn't seem to work. "Why can't my life be normal for just a little while?" he murmured softly to himself for what felt like the hundredth time. Hearing a noise on the steps behind him, he turned around. "Oh…it's you," he sighed with a slight glare.

"What are you doing down here this late?" Ron asked, returning the gesture.

"What's it to you?" Harry snapped, "I figured you'd all but abandoned me out of spite, all things considered."

Ron scoffed in return. "Well, maybe if you told me how you got your…"

"I didn't put my name into the Goblet, Ron!" The redhead took a step back in surprise, at the intensity in his former friend's voice. "I thought that _you _of ALL people would know that I don't need any more _attention _than I already have." Ron's glare returned, which only made Harry angrier. "After everything we've been through—the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets and Sirius—what could possibly make you think that I'd even want to participate in a tournament that I would need to risk my life in?"

"I don't know," Ron, sneered fists at his sides clenched tightly, knuckles white. "You already have everything; girls chasing after you, fame, and money. You _always _get everything, why can't I…" Something heavy struck him in the forehead cutting him off. His rant stopped as he tried to get the stars that had invaded his vision to disappear. When they finally cleared, Ron nearly fell over himself in shock.

Harry was glaring at him with a fury that he had never seem on his friend's face before. Harry's face was stone, a cold indifference that radiated authority, and Ron had just over-stepped his bounds. Harry's usually happy green eyes had hardened and turned a cold jade-like color that seemed to glow with power.

"There," he said coldly, "maybe that will leave a scar that people can gawk at wherever you go or maybe I should kill your entire family and leave you alive. Perhaps I should modify your memories of them while I'm at it, just so you can know that you had them in your life at some point, but never truly remember them."

Guilt, as well as an inkling of fear, slammed into Ron like a sledgehammer. "H-Harry…I-I"

"Shut up," Harry hissed in a voice that sounded colder and far older than Ron thought it should. "Just. Shut. Up! Don't _ever _say that I have everything! I have nothing! You're the one with everything, Ronald Weasley. You have a mother to comfort you when you have nightmares, a home with love and siblings to play with, a family that would do anything for you.

"What do I have? I have a mass murderer out for my blood, with hundreds of followers at his beck and call. I have a family that would rather put bars on my windows and doors than have to put up with me." Here Ron flinched, recalling the summer before their second year when he, Fred, and George had rescued Harry. "I have no memories of my parents, not even the love they had for me. Just the money I inherited from them when they _died_, so don't you DARE tell me that I have everything, Ron! You should be grateful every _day _that you have what you do. I would give anything, _everything _to have a life like yours for just one day."

By now, the powerful aura around Harry had died down, but that didn't stop Ron from shaking slightly at the tone his friend had taken with him, it sacred him. Moreover, to tell the truth, he had never even considered looking at it from Harry's point of view. Had he really been so shallow to overlook everything that his best friend had lost in order to gain what he had? Had he really been that…petty?

"Harry I'm…" he tried to apologize, as much as it grated on his pride, but Harry cut him off.

"Don't…" he sighed, looking away, and sitting down, while pulling something unseen from his robe pocket. "Just…don't, Ron. Go back to bed."

"Harry…" Ron tried, but Harry didn't even acknowledge him. With one last sigh, and a backward glance, Ron made his slow trek back to bed.

Harry opened The Marauder's Map, watching silently as Ron made his way up the stairs and stopped moving, presumably lying on his bed. He hadn't meant to react the way he had. At least, not with the amount of venom he had shown. It had always irked him that Ron could just blatantly dismiss everything great he had and only focus on the material possessions of others, namely him. He was not blind to Ron's jealousy, far from it. It was the first flaw he had noticed, but he lived with it for the sake of their friendship. Ron was his first friend, something that he was truly grateful for, the brother he had always wanted. Therefore, he accepted it and tried to ignore it as best he could, thinking that maybe one day, Ron would move past all that.

This year, however, he had discovered how wrong he was. Ron was still jealous of him. Of everything he didn't have, the money, the fame…all of it. Ron had abandoned him. Ron still couldn't look past it even after everything they had done together. Harry hoped that their little spat tonight would open his friend's eyes.

Looking back at the map, if only to distract himself from the night's events, he quirked an eyebrow. Crouch and Moody were in Moody's office again. They met there quite often lately. Although Moody never really moved at least from what Harry saw, and Crouch seemed to move around erratically, even at this time of night. As far as Harry knew, the two men didn't get along at all. It confused him.

In fact, many of Moody's actions, while unseen by most, confused him. He would periodically take sips from his hip flask, in well-paced intervals, and usually seemed to give him and Jacob now that he thought about it, a longer look than he gave other students. Frankly, it made his skin crawl. Crouch was another story altogether. The man seemed like a blank slate, staring into nothingness with glassy eyes, but the Ministry official was always like that when Harry interacted with him. However, what really confused him was the man's obsession with Snape's supply closet. The Marauder's Map had shown him in there on more than one occasion, but then again, maybe he needed something for the Ministry and Snape was the closest supplier at the time.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind for now, Harry sighed and leaned back in the chair once more. Right now, he had bigger problems, like figuring out how to get past a dragon in a day's time.

* * *

><p>Jacob sat on the tent floor with a tired look plastered on his face. Although he looked beat, he still had a large smile on his face. The other champions looked tired, but did not smile. Each one was dressed in their school colors, matching shirt, jacket, and pants. His were red, white, and blue with Jeanu on the front and Riddle on the back. He nodded to Harry as he walked over to the tent wall and began to talk to someone.<p>

_This'll work_, Jacob thought. _It has to or I'm screwed_.

To tell the truth, Jacob didn't really have a plan, not that he was going to tell Luna that. He was just going to do what he usually did…wing it. It always seemed to work before.

He jumped when Hermione leapt out and pulled Harry into a crushing hug. A flash sparked through the tent and Rita Skeeter appeared at the door, muttering about young love. Bagman followed her. He watched Hermione slip out before Bagman began to speak.

"Now that we're all here I'll explain the task." He smiled cheerfully. "It's simple. Collect the golden egg." Jacob had to hold a snort in at the odd image of the movie _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ Bagman's words conjured. "In this bag," Bagman continued, holding up a small purple sack, "are models of what you will face. We have randomly chosen which order you will be going in. Cedric, you're first, followed by, Fleur, Viktor, Harry, and finally Jacob. Now, Cedric if you please."

Cedric shakily put his hand in, wincing a bit before pulling out a bluish-grey dragon. "Swedish Short-Snout," Bagman muttered before going over to Fleur who pulled out a Welsh Green dragon followed by Krum who pulled out a Chinese Fireball, Harry got a feisty looking Hungarian Horntail. Jacob reached in and felt something wrap around his wrist. Pulling it out, he found a black snake-like dragon hissing at him. "Japanese Serpent," Bagman said. "When you hear the cannon…"

BOOM!

Bagman glared angrily at Filch, who shrugged.

"All right Cedric, good luck," he called hurrying out. The group watched Cedric walk nervously out the far door of the tent.

Jacob sat down, taking a deep breath before looking at Harry. "Nervous?" he asked. Harry gave him a look that practically screamed What-do-you-think. "Yeah, me too."

They listened to the cheers and screams of the crowd as one by one the champions faced their dragons until only Jacob remained. From what he had heard of Harry's match, he had summoned his Firebolt to get the egg.

"Sucks I can't fly to save my life," he sighed as the cannon blast boomed.

He stepped shakily out onto the rock-strewn ground and a cold chill ran down his spine. He looked up and gasped. There in front of him was a twenty foot long, one story tall, black as midnight, dragon. It was wingless, but if Jacob had to guess, it made up for that in speed. It snarled at the boy, red eyes piercing through his soul and appeared to smirk slightly as if sensing his fear.

Panic took a hold as Jacob faced the large animal. Then suddenly…it stopped. "_You're beautiful,_" he hissed.

Like a gun, the dragon shot forward with a roar. For a fraction of a second, Jacob's eyes widened before he leapt out of the way, the dragon's head missing him by inches and smashing the rock he stood behind to pieces. As the boy rolled, he pulled out his wand, aiming it at the ground.

"_Expelliarmus!_"

The blast sent him into the air. Dodging a swipe from the dragon's tail, he landed quickly and sprinted behind a large rock for cover. Ignoring the cheering crowd and the dragon's cries of annoyance, he began to look for the stupid egg.

"Damn it!" Jacob cursed. "Where the hell…"

"Look out!" a voice shrieked loudly. Turning sharply, he had enough time to see the dragon's tail smash into him and the rock. He coughed as he felt the rock crack behind him before falling to the ground. The dragon simply scooped him up and flicked his body across the arena, where he landed painfully.

"JACOB!"

Getting up slowly, while trying to get the tune for "I've Got a Golden Ticket" out of his now bleeding head, the battered boy found that his left arm hung limp. "Pff…broken." Looking up he saw the dragon standing over a large gold oval. "FOUND IT!" he yelled triumphantly.

The dragon lunged again.

"_Restituo__!_" Jacob yelled sharply.

Once again, the dragon smashed through a human-sized rock. The crowd watched in amazement and horror as Jacob, after leaping from the rock he used to take his place, sprinted along the dragon's back. Running for dear life he quickly scooped up the egg rolling painfully on the ground, before slamming the back of his head into a rock. He watched as the dragon made a dive for him before twenty red lights struck the beast in the chest. Jacob smiled, before everything went black.


	8. Treasured Memories

Treasured Memories

"_Jacob?" a small voice asked_

_Said boy was lying on a dark blue couch in front of a fire. A young girl snuggled into his chest, breathing erratically. Her shoulders were shaking, and she seemed to be trying to nestle herself deeper into him for comfort. When she spoke, her voice was cracked and soft. _

_He looked at the small girl with turquoise and flame red hair. "Yeah squirt?" he asked softly, as he stroked the child's head lovingly. The girl cuddled deeper into his chest, letting out a small sniffle._

"_You wouldn't hurt me on purpose…would you?"_

"_I'd rather die than lay a single ill-willed finger on your pretty little head." The girl__'__s breathing slowed to a steady pace as she began to fall back to sleep, a small smile etched onto her lips._

"_Goodnight, big brother."_

"_Good night, little sister."_

Jacob slowly opened his eyes to a dimly lit hospital wing. From the pale moonlight coming from the windows, he guessed that it was night. Checking himself over he found his left arm in a sling and his head covered in bandages, but he was thankfully still in his clothes and not those itchy hospital wing gowns.

"Well this sucks," he muttered. Looking around he found the golden egg sitting on his bedside table. "Did I win?" he asked aloud.

"Actually, you are currently in last place," a cheerful voice answered. Jacob quickly turned to see Dumbledore entering the hospital wing. "Good to see you're awake—and I must say that was a fantastic use of the Disarming and Replacement Charms."

Smiling nervously he muttered a thank you. "Um…Professor, how long have I been out?"

"Only a few hours," the Headmaster answered. "I believe Mr. Potter and the others are 'partying it up' in the common room, as they say. If you'd like, you're welcome to join them." Still smiling, Jacob collected his things, quickly stuffing them into his bag, which he found lying on the chair beside his bed before heading for the door.

"You might want to take the clue," Dumbledore called. Jacob hurried back and picked up the egg. As he did so, he noticed a single white rose lying behind it. "Ah yes, Miss Lovegood was here just an hour ago, you might wish to thank her. People like her only come into your life once in a long while."

Jacob smiled softly before gently picking up the flower. "No…they certainly don't." Looking back over his shoulder, Jacob gave a quick nod to the old man. "Goodnight Headmaster."

As he walked down the hall toward the common room, Jacob looked at the troublesome egg inquisitively. "You caused me a bolder's worth of pain," he said pointedly, "and how in seven hells are you a clue—Oh, the top spins!" Grabbing the top of the egg, he twisted it toward him. The egg fell open in four sections before a horrible screeching shrill echoed through the halls. Dropping the egg in surprise, he let out a startled yelp before quickly closing the blasted thing. "What the _hell _was THAT?" he yelled, glaring at the egg.

Mumbling about stupid screeching banshee eggs, he picked the 'clue' up and stuffed it violently into his bag before continuing to the Gryffindor common room. As he approached the portrait of the Fat Lady, he could faintly hear excited shouts.

"Did Harry come in first?" he asked the portly woman after speaking this week's password.

She smiled knowingly before swinging open. "You'll see…"

As he entered the common room he could clearly see a group of excited Gryffindors hoisting Harry into the air, the egg in was in his hand, and he was about to open it. "Uh, Harry, you might not want to…"

Too late…

Everyone dropped as the horrendous noise burst forth through his or her eardrums. "What the bloody hell was that?" someone yelled after a moment of silence.

Getting up with his one good arm, Jacob glared at the other egg. "I'm going to _kill_ whoever thought of that clue." The room turned and burst into cheers once more upon seeing him. He was quite surprised when Ginny captured him in a bone-crushing hug. Harry and Ron both patted his back. Hermione though, walked up quite nervous, eyes cast downward.

"Jacob," she said softly, nervously glancing at him from behind a curtain of hair. "I'm…well, I just wanted to say…"

"That's okay," he interrupted smiling. "You had your reasons for being hesitant." He stuck out his good hand to her surprise. "Friends?" Smiling, she shook his hand. "So who won?"

"Cedric is in first right now," she answered.

"But Harry was brilliant!" Ginny cut in. "I knew you could fly, but against a dragon?" She smiled at him.

"Well, I wasn't all that great…" he muttered, blushing slightly.

"Karkaroff, the git, gave Harry a four," Ron scowled. "You on the other hand got a nine. The rest gave you between a six and eight. That was amazing using the Disarming Charm like that to launch yourself into the air."

_I didn't think it would actually work. _"How's Moonshine?" he asked.

"Furious." Ginny and Hermione smiled. "We actually thought you died when you hit that bolder. I've never seen her so distraught," Ginny added with a worried look in her eyes.

"I wouldn't want to be you mate," Ron laughed before disappearing into the crowd, quickly followed by Hermione and Ginny, leaving only Harry.

"That task was a lot more dangerous than I thought it would be," Harry said seriously. "We all could have been killed."

Jacob nodded, watching as their friends danced and laughed happily. "Easily," he agreed. "I think it's only going to get harder from here." He sighed, watching as Harry ran a hand through his hair a sign that Jacob was learning meant something was making Harry feel stressed. "Well," Jacob smiled, "why don't we go have some fun while we can?"

Harry smiled and nodded in return. The two quickly joined the happy fray with their friends, forgetting their current and future troubles if only for one night.

* * *

><p>A month had passed since the first task and Jacob was as good as new, although he now knew how a Bat-Bogey Hex felt…quite painful. It seemed Luna had taken their bet to heart, and attacked him whenever he was most off guard. She seemed to know when that was with scary accuracy too. He suspected insider information.<p>

Jacob sighed wistfully as he watched the sunset across the black lake. This had become a sort of routine for him. After his final class, he would sit and watch the sunset just before going in for dinner. He sat against a large tree, with The Great Gatsby resting on his lap. The ground covered with a thick sheet of snow, making the scene even more beautiful. Jacob had learned to love Heating Charms very quickly.

The smell of roast beef and mashed potatoes soon filled the air making his stomach growl hungrily. "Heh…yeah me too," he told his stomach comically, as he stood up and headed toward the castle. As he took one last look at the lake, he thought saw a figure on the surface duck back into the water.

"I never did like that book," Hermione said as Jacob served himself another helping of pudding a few minutes later.

Ron began to choke while Ginny pounded on his back, and Harry looked shocked. "A book that Hermione _doesn't_ like?" he gasped with a smile. "I think the world is going to end."

"Oh shut it," she glared mock severely. "So…have either of you figured out that clue?" Harry shook his head turning away after taking a sip of juice while Jacob laughed and did the same. "You two really need to get on that," she scolded, "if the first task is any indication about the difficulty of the Tournament." She looked pointedly at Jacob who smiled sheepishly.

After they had finished eating and the students were full, Dumbledore stood to address the schools.

"Now that you all are full and happy we have a special announcement. On Christmas Day, Hogwarts will be hosting the Yule Ball for all students fourth year and above." The girls began to chat excitedly while the boys looked quite nervous. Once again, the Headmaster began to speak. "Now I remind you that this is a formal dance. An older student must invite you if you are third year or below or you will be escorted out. Now I'm sure you all have much to think about, so, pleasant dreams."

* * *

><p>"You should definitely ask Luna!" Ginny exclaimed, in Jacob's opinion, a little too happily. They were in the common room a few days after the announcement and Jacob was helping her with her Potions homework. This had been the twelfth time she had suggested that he ask Luna to the ball, something that he had been trying to avoid since the announcement, not that he wouldn't mind of course.<p>

"Now, how is meadowsweet used?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"Don't change the subject," she growled. "You really should, I think she'd love it."

"And you should persuade Harry to take you." He smiled knowingly.

"He'd rather go with Cho Chang," she said almost heatedly, getting a raised eyebrow. "She's the Ravenclaw seeker. He has a crush on her." Her voice fell with a sad note to it.

"Ah well, you'll find someone to go with," he tried to reassure her.

"Yeah, well what about you?" she demanded with an air of superiority. "What about Luna?" He blushed and muttered something she couldn't hear. "What was that?"

"I said, I…uh…I don't know how…how to dance," he explained bashfully. She stared at him for a moment before she burst into a fit of giggles. "Hey, it's not funny!" he said defensively. "I doubt you know!"

"Oh, please," she said smugly after she had calmed down. "All girls know how to dance. You just need to learn. I'll even teach you." She smiled.

"I don't need…"

"Ugh, stupid boys and their pride!" she exclaimed with a glare. "Let me rephrase that: I'm going to teach you how to dance, if only for Luna's sake. You don't want to break her toes, do you?" He shook his head. "Good, but I'll only teach you IF you ask her to the ball."

"But…"

"NO buts," she said sternly. "Besides, you're probably going to be the only boy in your year that knows how to dance."

"I doubt that," he muttered. "Now back to meadowsweet." She groaned and rolled her eyes.

The next day, Jacob sat at the breakfast table looking quite nervous. He hadn't touched a thing, and he was looking pretty green. Ginny rolled her eyes and plopped some eggs onto his plate. "Eat." He grumbled, but did slowly. He stopped and looked at her.

"What if she…"

"She won't."

"Maybe she…"

"She doesn't."

"H-"

"NO!" she said forcefully, giving off another patented Weasley glare. "It's not like you're asking her to marry you. Sheesh, it's just a dance."

"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked sitting down next to Ginny as they watched Jacob continue to fidget. Harry began to pet Hedwig absentmindedly. She had decided to grace her master with her presence, though she mostly focused on her master's plate of bacon.

"He's GOING to ask Luna to the ball." She smiled watching the boy blush. Harry looked surprised while Hermione let out a squeal of excitement and began to ask questions about how he planned to do it, what he was going to wear, what he was going to get her.

"Why would he want to do that?" Ron said after a large swallow of food. "She's loony, you…hem…uh, never mind…" he stopped seeing the sharp look his sister and Jacob sent him. He shivered a bit before continuing to stuff his face. Hermione sighed, muttering something about the emotional range of a teaspoon.

"Hello Ginny, Morning Jacob!" a lofty voice said. The group turned to see Luna standing behind them with a serene smile. Harry idly noticed that her shoes didn't match today and that her earrings were now in the shape of moving Snitches as opposed to her normal radish ones.

"Hey Luna!" Ginny smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm just fine," she replied, "although my stuff seems to be missing again. I suspect it may be Nargals."

"Your necklace should have—youch!" Jacob glared at Hermione and Ginny who looked away trying, and failing to act innocent. "Hey, uh, Luna…could I, um…talk to you?"

She looked confused, but nodded. "Sure."

"Alone?" She blushed a bit, but began to walk away, with him in tow.

"So he's actually going to do it?" Hermione whispered excitedly.

Ginny nodded. "I said I wouldn't teach him how to dance unless he asked her first."

"You're teaching him how to dance?" Ron asked sharply. "What about Harry and me?"

"You don't have anyone to go with, _and _you never asked," she scolded with a slight glare. She turned to Harry to see him looking over to the left with a sad but thoughtful face. "Harry? Are you all right?" He looked over at her, and gave a small smile. Before she could inquire what was wrong Hermione squealed.

"Ginny look!" She turned to see Luna pull Jacob into a tight hug before kissing his cheek and skipping away with a VERY large smile on her face. "Look at him blush," Hermione gushed as he sat down.

He looked at Ginny and smiled brightly. "Now you teach me how to dance."

"Yep, I will after classes tonight," she nodded. She turned back to Harry again.

"Hey Harry, what were you…" She stopped, realizing that he and his things were gone.

"Where'd he go?" Ron asked.

"I think I know…" Ginny sighed sadly following the missing boy's gaze. In the spot that Harry was looking, were Cedric and Cho, together laughing very happily. _Oh, Harry._


	9. The Yule Ball

The Yule Ball

Ginny was surprised. Truthfully, she thought that Jacob would be terrible at ballroom dancing but in fact, he was quite good. Although he did step on her toes quite a few times at first, he quickly got the hang of it and had made great progress in the week since she had started teaching him.

"I think that's enough for tonight."

Jacob smiled and let go of her waist. "This is fun!"

"You're pretty good at this," Ginny commented with a smile. "I'm still wondering how you're so good at it, after only a few days."

Jacob smiled and rubbed his shoulder. "I'm very agile; it comes with all the dueling practices we had at Jeanu. We had to make sure that we didn't trip over our feet, or we'd fail the tests. I guess smooth feet passes over into dancing." He laughed.

Just then, Neville walked in. Actually, it was more of a stumble. The boy was wide-eyed and drastically pale. His breathing was shallow and he was sweating a bit. "Jeeze Neville!" Jacob exclaimed, rushing to the boy and slowly setting him down on the couch. "What the hell happened?" The boy didn't reply right away, he just stared into space. "Nev-"

"I saw you ask Luna to the ball last week," he stammered, "so, I-I figured I should find a date. I asked Hermione—she said no, very politely I might add. I ran into Hannah Abbot soon after." He stopped to catch his breath. "We started talking and hanging out—she's great fun—but today…uh…"

"You asked her and she said no…" Ginny said with a look of sympathy.

"No, she asked me!" He smiled, clearly shocked.

"Well, what did you say?" Jacob laughed. "Details, man, details!"

"I said yes, of course. But she…" His face turned an awkward shade of red, yet he had a stupid grin on his face. "She…uh…"

Ginny gasped and giggled madly. "She didn't!" Neville just nodded dumbly. "Aw, Neville that's so cute!"

"What happened?" Jacob asked clearly confused.

"She kissed him!" Ginny answered with an eye roll. "That's wonderful Neville! You know she's been looking at you for quite a while."

"Who kissed who?" a voice asked. The trio turned to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione—the latter two went straight upstairs to their separate dorms. Both their faces were equally red. They were once again, not even sparing the other a glance as they stormed in opposite directions.

"Hannah kissed Neville," Ginny replied in a singsong voice and smiled at him. "Find a date yet?" she asked.

Harry sighed and plopped himself in a chair. She looked at him worriedly as he just stared into the fire.

"Go see why Hermione is in such a bad mood," Jacob whispered to her. "I'll talk to him." She nodded hesitantly before motioning Neville to check on Ron. When they'd gone, Jacob sat in the love seat across from Harry. "So want to talk about what's eating you?"

"Not really," Harry replied with a sigh.

"It'll make you feel better," Jacob pushed. "Is it that you don't know how to dance?" A shaken head was his answer. "Your Snitch left you for another Seeker?" A smirk this time, but still no response. "Or, is it that Cho and Cedric seem very happy with each other?"

Harry looked at him with a start. "How'd you…?"

Jacob shrugged with a smile. "I pay attention to these kinds of things. So, because of this, poor little Harry thinks nobody will want to go to the ball with him, or he'll have to scrape the bottom of the barrel."

Harry gave Jacob a heated glare. "I'm not scraping…"

"You're depressed—something you've been getting good at lately," Jacob interrupted. "This dance is a chance to be with friends, not to hopefully get married and have three babies. Take someone you KNOW you'll have fun with."

"Who else is there?" he said, frustrated. "Everyone's taken. Parvati is going with Ron, Hermione has been very quiet about who's taking her, but someone is. Cho and Cedric, Ginny probably has scores of guys asking her…"

"Actually, nobody's asked her," Jacob contradicted.

Harry looked shocked. "W-why not? I mean, I'd expect there would be a line for her or something from what I hear."

"Don't know," he shrugged with a smirk. "You should ask her though, before someone else does."

"But she's my friend…"

"Exactly, you'll have fun and that's the whole point!"

Harry still looked hesitant. "I don't want to seem like she's a last resort or anything…"

"Have you asked anybody else?"

"Well…no, but…"

"Then she isn't a last resort." Jacob smiled.

"What if she says no?"

"You won't know until you try, now will you?"

They sat in silence for a while until Ginny came storming down with a deep scowl on her face. Neville came down a second later shaking his head and walking out of the common room. He too looked slightly annoyed. Jacob sent Harry a look that made him smile sheepishly.

"Boys are prats," Ginny growled at them, sitting down.

"So I take it you wouldn't want to go to the ball with me then?" Harry said with a slight wince.

Her face shifted from annoyance to shock to embarrassment with a feverous blush in a matter of seconds. "W-what?"

"He just asked you to the Yule Ball." Jacob rolled his eyes, smiling.

"Uh…yeah…I mean yes!" she practically yelled. "I'd love to." She beamed.

Harry smiled widely as well. "Great! Um…I'm going to head to bed," he said getting up. "You know," he said passing Jacob, "for someone who hesitated to ask someone out, you're very good at helping others." Jacob mumbled a 'thanks' while scratching the back of his head. "Good night Jacob, Night, Ginny." He smiled heading toward the dorm.

"Harry!' Ginny called, running up to him. She smiled before pulling him into a hug and kissing his cheek. "G'night," she whispered to his dazed face. He nodded dumbly and continued up the stairs.

Quickly turning she looked at Jacob. "Thanks." She smiled, heading toward the girls' stairs. He smiled and nodded. "Good night Jacob."

He waved, before plopping himself onto the couch with a deep sigh. "You're right Harry, he muttered to himself. Closing his eyes he, drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

* * *

><p>Christmas Day came surprisingly quickly. Jacob found himself awakened that morning by a loud yelp. Groggily looking over, he saw Harry and Ron talking to what appeared to be a small troll.<p>

"What time iz ieh…?" he slurred.

The troll turned and answered with a crooked smile, "7:15 AM sir."

"Argh," Jacob groaned, dropping his head back onto his pillow. With a forced sigh, he rolled himself out of bed, and onto the floor.

"You okay, mate?" Ron asked holding back a laugh.

A thumbs up appeared over the bed with a bark of a laugh and a quick 'yep'. Quickly getting up, Jacob headed for the common room, throwing a 'Merry Christmas' over his shoulder. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw Hermione and Ginny opening their presents with an excited vigor.

"Nice sweater," he said to Ginny as she held up an orange sweater with a red 'G' on the left breast.

"My mum made it," she said proudly although he could see a hint of embarrassment on her face. She watched him lounge comfortably on the chair facing the girls.

"What else did you guys get?"

"My brother sent me this necklace," Ginny smiled holding up an Egyptian symbol. "He says it means life."

"My Mum and Dad sent me a picture of New York City; they're there for a dental conference." Hermione smiled. "And a few more supplies," she murmured with a blush.

"G'morning!" Harry said as he and Ron came trudging down the stairs.

Jacob reached behind the tree and tossed them their presents then did the same for the girls. Each opened their gift to see a brown wristband with a small notch connected to a spring.

"What are they?" Harry asked.

Jacob flicked his wrist and his wand shot into his waiting hand. "Holsters—they cloak themselves when you have your wand in the notch," he said with a flourish. "Found them in Diagon Alley when I first came here. I placed an order for them last month."

"So that's why your reactions were so good when Malfoy attacked me."

Jacob nodded with a smile. "I got one for Luna as well."

"That's a very charming gift for your date," Ginny said with a sigh.

"I got her something else too, sheesh," he replied sticking out his tongue. "I'm not _that _bad of a date." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harry look sheepish and take a great interest in the window, no doubt noticed by Ginny who giggled softly while shaking her head.

"Hey Jacob, there's something here for you," Ron said lugging out a very large spoon-shaped present, and setting it in front of him. "There's a letter too." The envelope looked burnt in places, but the fluid handwriting was still intact.

Jacob sucked in a breath as he tentatively took hold of the letter. Opening it, he read the contents aloud. "_Happy birthday, big brother_," he said softly. "_I saw you looking at this like a lovesick puppy, so I asked the man at the register to hold it for me. Every week I would bring all my money to him. It took me two years to get enough, but I got it! Therefore, you had better appreciate it! I hope you like it. Love you lots! Your little sis, Aura._" By the time he finished he was in tears.

Folding the letter, so as not to damage it, he gave a trembling sigh. Gently, he ran his fingers over the wrapping paper. "You are going to open it, right?" Ron asked excitedly, earning him a hit in the back of the head from his sister.

"Prat," she growled dangerously.

Jacob stared at the gift, lost in thought before tearing the multicolored paper off, to reveal a slightly brunt guitar case. He opened it and the prize inside was in perfect condition. A simple six string acoustic guitar lay inside the blue-lined case. The wood was pale red with clear stain and black trimmed edges. He laughed seeing the sticker smiley faces on the bridge.

"It's beautiful," Hermione said.

"It's just a guitar," Ron said dryly. "Be better if it was a broom."

"You can play?" Ginny and Harry asked with bemused expressions. No one noticed the quick glance they gave each other out of the corner of their eyes, before looking away, cheeks dusted pink.

Gathering himself up, he nodded. "Yeah…I can also play piano; I was bored so I decided to take lessons at school. Ha…needed the class anyway."

"Play something!" Ginny said excitedly.

"Maybe…maybe later, Ginny," he sighed putting it away. "I didn't even know anything survived the fire. I might just put a Stasis Charm over it and make it unbreakable. It's probably one of the last things I have of her." His voice trembled, but there was a small smile on his face nonetheless.

She looked sad, but quickly smiled and nodded. "So what did you get Luna?" she asked with a devious grin.

* * *

><p>Jacob flushed, embarrassed as he looked at himself in the mirror a few hours later. "I'm not sure what I hate more," he said, turning to Harry, "dress robes or a tuxedo." The robes were a deep purple, something that he absolutely hated and had small frills at the edges, something he hated even more than the color.<p>

Harry smiled and shook his head, tugging at the edge of his own dark green robe. "At least you aren't Ron." He laughed.

"Git!" a voice called from upstairs, causing the boys to laugh harder. The redheaded boy had the misfortune of having robes that looked like an actual dress…only one hundred years out of style.

"Are you coming?" Harry asked from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'll…uh…meet you guys down in the Great Hall," Ron answered with a squeak.

"Don't be late!" they called as they exited the portrait hole.

They sat with the rest of the boys at the bottom of the main stairs awaiting their respective dates.

Half an hour later, the girls began to come down. Harry and Jacob watched amused as a blushing Neville gently kissed an equally blushing Hannah Abbot before the two of them walked into the hall. Jacob nudged Harry as he watched them go. He turned to see what the problem was, saw a very pretty Hermione, who had somehow gotten her hair to straighten, as well as her teeth aligned, being taken by the hand by Viktor Krum and led into the hall. She blushed and waved to the two before disappearing.

Jacob heard Harry gasp and turned to see why. Ginny was slowly making her way down the stairs with a soft smile on her face. She was in a form fitting, pale blue dress that hugged her just right. Her hair was in a high ponytail and had two bangs that framed her face gently. He smiled and pushed Harry's jaw back up.

"Repeat after me," Jacob whispered as Ginny came near them. "Ginny, you look beautiful tonight."

"Beautiful doesn't describe it…" Harry muttered quietly, but not quietly enough that she couldn't hear. She blushed and murmured a soft 'thank you' before turning to Jacob.

"Luna will be right down," she said before noticing his gaze fixated on the stairs with much the same expression that Harry had on just a moment ago.

Luna had put on a very nice cream-colored dress that seemed to meld with her delicate skin, bringing out—in Jacob's opinion—her sparkling blue eyes. As she stopped in front of Jacob, the dress seemed to pool around her elegantly. Her long flowing hair had been charmed not to look crumpled.

"Repeat after me," Harry said smartly.

"Shut it," Jacob said without looking away from Luna's eyes. Suddenly he began to look frantically in his pockets, muttering something. Luna and Ginny giggled at his nervousness. A look of triumph came over his face, and he blushed, as he pulled out a silver chain with sapphires and rubies hanging around it. "I got this for you." He smiled as she gasped in surprise. Gently, he put it around her wrist where it shrank to a comfortable size. "It's charmed to never break or rust no matter where you have it on. So…uh…Merry Christmas?"

"You know," Harry whispered into Ginny's ear as they watched the exchange, "for someone who is very good with advice, he's horrible at his own subtlety."

She smiled and nodded. "They're so cute!"

"And I'm sorry I didn't get you anything for the ball."

"You're enough for tonight," she said coyly, grasping his hand. "Come on Potter; let's see how well you dance." She laughed outright as he paled and mutely followed.

* * *

><p>Ginny laughed happily, as Harry led her around the floor for the third time, hours later. He was surprisingly very good at dancing, having stepped on her toes only once during the opening dance. She chanced a look toward Luna to see her smiling radiantly as Jacob spun her a second time saying something that made her laugh jovially.<p>

"Your lessons really helped him," Harry said, breaking into her thoughts.

"It seems he gave you a few pointers," she said with a grin of her own. "Two men ballroom dancing together…wish I could have watched."

"Ha-ha, I bet you would have," he shrugged, still smiling. "I learn fast. Besides, your toes must be happy."

She giggled and nodded. "Luna's as well," she said glancing at their friends. Suddenly she groaned and rolled her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"My prat of a brother," she sighed as the music shifted to a slower pace. She nearly jumped when Harry's arms wrapped around her waist. She blushed, but put hers around his neck, moving closer to him.

"He can be insensitive at times, especially to people's feelings," Harry commented as she rested her head on his shoulder, sighing contently. "He'll grow up eventually." A few moments of silence passed between them. "This is nice," he murmured softly. She smiled and nodded as he pulled her closer to him. "Want to have some fun?" he asked. She looked at him in confusion. _That's kind of very—cute, _he mused silently. "Watch this," he smiled deviously.

"Ten galleons say they get together before the end of the year." Luna smiled up at Jacob impishly as they watched Harry and Ginny.

"You're on." He grinned. His smiled softened as he held her tighter. "I'm glad I came here," he whispered to her.

She smiled and hugged him back. "I'm glad you did too. You helped me open up more and you became my friend—my best friend." Suddenly she went a very pretty shade of red. She then shot Harry and Ginny a dirty look that could burn a hole through the sun.

"What's up?"

"Look up," she muttered.

He did so, and blushed. A sprig of mistletoe hung above them. _I hate mistletoe. _Just then, the clock chimed midnight. Looking down at the girl in arms, he smiled shyly. "What to give them a show?" he asked pulling her closer, causing her to squeak in surprise.

She blushed, but smiled as he gently leaned forward. Suddenly, a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. As the crowd began to clear and head for their respective dorms, Luna grabbed Jacob's face and brought her lips crashing into his. The kiss was hard, not painfully so, but filled with deep emotion. As quickly as it happened, she pulled away from a stupefied Jacob. She giggled and pecked his lips one last time.

"I had a wonderful time, Jacob," she whispered to him. "Good night." She smiled as she walked away, passing an equally shocked Ginny and Harry.

The two quickly ran to their dazed friend. "Are you okay?" Harry asked tentatively. Jacob was smiling stupidly. "Hey, are y-?"

"I love mistletoe," Jacob said still smiling. The two just glanced at each other before leading the lovesick puppy back to the common room.


	10. The Second Task

**The Second Task**

Christmas and New Year's passed quickly and before long, the telltale signs of February appeared. Over the course of those days, Jacob and Luna's relationship began to show signs of a budding couple. They often spent their free periods with each other, doing homework together, walking around, kissing and the occasionally making-out, but oddly enough, neither was willing to make it official, which was becoming quite irritating for their friends.

Not only were Jacob and Luna a key subject, but Ron and Hermione as well. After the ball, Ron and Hermione were once again at each other's throats when Ron, in all his wisdom, claimed that Hermione was 'fraternizing with the enemy' and openly questioned her loyalty to Harry. Then they had a huge argument in the common room. Even now, a few weeks later, they weren't talking to one another. Well, apart from the constant rows.

"I don't know why they just don't snog each other's brains out!" Ginny let out a frustrated sigh.

She and Harry were sitting near the lake watching Hermione and Ron walk away from each other after another spat. Like Jacob and Luna, Ginny and Harry had been spending a lot of time together in the past month, just not as…seriously. It was Saturday, and they had finished their homework, much to Hermione's pleasure. With nothing to do, they decided to have a small lunch near the lake, both under a mild warming charm.

"They will, eventually," Harry assured her. "If not, it's nothing meddling friends can't help with." He grinned. "Besides, I think that fighting is their way of flirting with each other."

"Have you figured out that clue yet?" Ginny asked softly as she leaned her head onto Harry's shoulder.

He sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly. "I've tried, believe me I have," he answered. "After that detestable woman wrote that article about Hagrid, I've been making every effort to figure it out."

"For him?" she asked, looking at him.

"Not only for him…" He smiled softly, looking back at her. "But yeah…I think it would cheer him up knowing I'm all set for the next task. It'd certainly take his mind off things."

Suddenly, Harry's vision swam to the left and he heard whispers that sounded oddly like Ginny from somewhere inside his head, although it sounded like it was coming from the other side of an unseen wall._ He's so cute, even if he's tired._ The next instant, memories of a little girl playing in the backyard with a small stuffed teddy bear flashed before his eyes, before it shifted into an older girl crying in her room after having a nightmare about a giant snake, then shifted once more to a younger version smiling triumphantly after blaming a broken window on her twin brothers. The memories kept flashing faster and faster until Harry pulled his eyes away from Ginny's eyes with a gasp. Rolling away from the shocked girl, he tried to catch his breath as well as get rid of a pounding headache.

"Harry what's wrong?" she asked, kneeling next to him.

Breathing at a more controlled rate, he chanced a look into the redhead's eyes. There was a slight twinge from inside his head, but nothing jumped in front of his eyes, just a soft whisper that he couldn't quite make out.

"It's nothing…" He tried to smile reassuringly, but knew he came off fake if her incredulous look said anything. Suddenly, he noticed how close her face was to his. "I can count your freckles from here, Ginny." He grinned stupidly, causing her to blush.

"Yeah," she whispered, her blush coming under control while her head moved closer to his. "I can…"

"OI, that's my sister!" a voice yelled, causing them to jump apart, hearts racing, and faces red, although it was impossible to tell if it was from embarrassment or anger.

"RON, you pr-" They stopped when they saw Jacob laughing hysterically. Luna on the other hand glared at him, and hit him in the back of the head.

"You twit," she growled. Since 'getting together' with Jacob, Luna had all but completely come out of her shell of 'loony-ness'. "You couldn't have waited one more second?"

"And let you win?" the American smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "Nope."

"Win what?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing!" they answered quickly—a little too quickly for the redhead's liking. "Anyway, Harry," Jacob said, turning serious. "Have you figured out the egg yet?" Harry shook his head. "I had to DROWN out the sound to figure it out," he said with a smile and an exaggerated wink. "Water worked the best. See ya!" With a backward wave, he headed toward the castle, Luna chased after him with an annoyed look.

Harry looked at Ginny with a lost expression and she rolled her eyes. "He said hold it under water."

"Oh!" Suddenly, there was a splash. They turned to see Jacob in the lake and an irate Luna leaving him behind. "I gave him a hint!" he called to her. "And this water is bloody cold!"

"IT SUCKED!" she called back.

* * *

><p>Later that week, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione were in an empty classroom with a large bucket filled with water and the golden egg lying on the table next to them. "So he said he drowned out the sound with water?" Harry asked, placing the clue in the bucket. "Now what?"<p>

"Open it," Hermione said with a sigh.

"You've been really thick lately, you know that?" Ginny said flatly.

"It must be because I've been hanging around with you," he shot back, smiling. "You're rubbing off on me." If he'd been looking, he would have noticed the dangerous glint in her eyes. He winced as he opened the egg, but instead of a shrill screech, he could hear a soft tune. When he placed his ear near the water, the tune was clearer. "I think I hear words, but I can't make anything out."

"Maybe you need to be underwater," Ginny suggested innocently.

"That might…gulp!" Faster than he realized, Ginny forced his head underwater. He was about to force her to let go when he heard a soft voice sing,

"_Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you're searching, ponder this:_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took,_

_But past an hour—the prospect's black_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back._ "

He was so engrossed in the poem that Harry failed to notice that Ginny had removed her hand from his head until it had finished. His head sprang from the bucket, spraying water everywhere.

"They're going to take something of mine!" he exclaimed, ignoring the glares Hermione and Ginny were giving him for getting them wet. "Something important and I'll only have an hour to look before it's gone forever."

"How are you going to last an hour underwater?" Ginny asked worriedly. "You'd drown."

"No I won't," Harry responded, looking her in the eyes. "I promise we'll just have to look for a way. I never thought I'd hear myself say this," he smiled, giving Hermione a pointed look, "but let's go to the library."

* * *

><p>As they entered, the trio saw Jacob and surprisingly Ron, leafing through piles of books. Ron looked up, eyes locking with Hermione's for a brief second, before looking back down to what he was reading. Jacob sensed his friend's tension and looked up to see what the problem was.<p>

"Ginny!" he exclaimed, seeing the redhead. "Have you seen Luna?"

She looked confused, but shook her head. "No, why?"

He looked away, giving them a clear look at the bruise on his cheek. "We-we got into an argument…" he admitted clearly ashamed.

"Over what?" she asked.

_What could have caused her to actually punch him?_ Harry, Ginny, and Hermione all thought.

"It was stupid really…stupid on my part, I mean." He sighed, rolling up what he was writing. "She, well…she asked me out…officially…"

"What did you say?" He didn't answer. "You bloody prat!" she growled.

"I know!" he yelled. "I'm an idiot! I know! It's just…I don't want to hurt her…have her end up like…" He stopped himself.

"Like who?"

"…like Aura," he whispered, eyes downcast.

"Jacob…why would she?" Hermione asked softly. After much nagging on her part, Harry and Ginny had finally told her and Ron Jacob's story, with his permission of course.

He shook his head hard. "I…don't know…all right?" He got up to leave. "Thanks for the help, Ron. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

The four of them watched him go with subdued expressions before they began to help Harry.

Four hours later, they still hadn't found anything of use when Moody came in. "Mister Potter, Professor McGonagall would like to see the Weasleys and Miss Granger, if you don't mind." The three people in question looked confused, but nodded, and said they would see Harry later. With a frustrated sigh, knowing that his work had just gotten harder, he dove deeper into his search.

* * *

><p>Jacob sighed as he cut up his last ingredients and tossed them into his cauldron, watching as the liquid inside turned a neon green color with red stripes. "Hard part's done," he muttered, putting the solution into a vial with stopper.<p>

The next day Jacob found himself on a very large three-tiered dock in the middle of the lake, Dumbledore's booming voice cutting through the frigid air. "Something of great importance to each of the champions has been taken and cast into the bottom of the lake. Their task is to reclaim it within an hour's time." Standing next to Harry, Jacob could see what looked to be rat-tails in the palm of his hand. "Who'd they take?"

"Ginny," he said determinedly, nodding over to where Ron was unsuccessfully trying to be inconspicuous.

"And Hermione?"

"Krum," he smirked. "Luna?"

Jacob nodded with an equally determined look. "Race ya?" Jacob laughed, pulling out a vial of potion. He gagged, but swallowed it with a grimace.

"What was that?" Harry asked just as a cannon exploded.

"Why don't you come and find out, Potter?" Jacob smiled, his skin turning to scales as he fell backward into the lake with an audible splash. Falling slowly, he allowed himself to drift toward the bottom.

Feeling the transformation complete, Jacob opened his eyes to a clear view of the surface above. He allowed himself to breathe, squirming at the sensation of water converting to air inside his lungs. With a strong pull of his webbed fingers and toes, he rocketed toward the centre of the lake.

Half an hour later, or what seemed to be, he could faintly hear the sounds of singing. As he neared the source, he saw what appeared to be a man-shark carrying Hermione toward the surface. He picked up the pace, entering a clearing and the entrance of a large castle.

"You do a fine job with buildings," Jacob praised clearly. A merperson swam out from behind him with what appeared to be a perplexed look.

"You have five minutes."

Jacob nodded and swam toward Luna. Someone had already released her from the anchor that was holding her down._ Good old Harry Potter_ he smiled. Locking her arms around his neck, he quickly swam toward the surface. As he swam, he noticed something struggling in the weeds with two figures rising above it. He got there and grabbed them, locking Luna's, Ginny's and a little girl's hands together and pushed them to the surface.

Turing back he saw Harry was becoming weaker and weaker. _Whatever he used, must be wearing off_, he thought, pulling out his wand. _Pulsus!_ he yelled mentally, thrusting his wand forward, a concussion wave scattered whatever was attacking Harry, giving him enough time to escape. He gave Jacob a thumbs-up while they broke the surface with grateful gasps of air.

Immediately, Ginny and the little girl grasped Harry and the three of them swam toward the centre deck. There he could see Ron and Neville helping Luna out of the water. Jacob shook his head sadly. Another reminder of how much of a prat he was. _I broke her heart_, he growled mentally, leisurely swimming around the deck and ignoring the offers of help. "…though outside the time limit, we award Harry Potter forty-five points for good moral fibre. To Mister Jacob Riddle with a shockingly good use of the Triton's Blood potion, as well as a strong sense of friendship and loyalty, we award forty-five points as well. The placements are Cedric and Harry tied for first, Jacob in second, followed by Viktor in third, and Fleur in fourth. This concludes the second task. Now…" With a groan, Jacob drowned out the rest by placing his ears in the water and floating, feeling a lack of interest.

He watched as Luna got into a boat and drifted back to shore and for some reason that hurt. _And I think I broke mine too._

* * *

><p>"Mister Potter," a voice called, breaking Harry out of his thoughts as he watched Jacob transfigure into normal clothes and walk in an aimless direction, book in hand. Turning, he saw Crouch walking toward him, "fantastic job today."<p>

"Uh…thanks…I guess." He hated attention.

"If you ever need my help, just send me an owl," Crouch said shakily. "Everyone wants a Hogwarts victory, you know."

"Does Cedric know about your offer as well?" Harry asked. Truthfully, he knew Crouch only wanted him to do it for publicity's sake, but it was fun to make him squirm where he stood as he tried fruitlessly to jump around the question.

"Is there a problem here?" a gruff voice called. The two turned to see Moody hobbling over. "Is he bothering you, Potter?" he asked, tongue whipping out to touch the comer of his mouth. Crouch seemed to be deeply troubled all of the sudden, muttering a goodbye before quickly hurrying away. Harry nodded to Moody in thanks as the former Auror hobbled off.

Before he could think any further on the subject, a mass of red hair slammed into him and pulled him into a giant hug, one that could rival Mrs. Weasely's.

"Thank you," a melodic voice whispered into his ear, sending a shiver down his spine.

"I couldn't let you get hurt," he murmured. "You mean too much to me, corny as that sounds, but you've really helped me this year." He smiled, reluctantly letting her go. "You're a great friend, Ginny."

She blushed prettily. "Thank you, Harry. That's sweet of you to say."

"It's true," a lofty voice commented. They turned to see a very tired but dreamy looking Luna. Her mismatched clothes and blond hair were soaked through and she looked like she'd been crying, but you couldn't tell due to the water dripping off her face and hair. "If you want a third party opinion, you're a very good friend, Ginny." The girl's voice was still dreamy, but with a scratchy undertone that seemed forced.

"Luna," Ginny smiled, hugging her. "How are you?"

"Miserable," she answered automatically. Ginny nodded understandingly. "You know what's funny?" she sighed as 'Loony' disappeared to show a heartbroken Luna. "I completely understand why he said no. It has something to do with what happened to his litter sister." She laughed harshly, wiping away a tear. "I'm falling for him even more…" She bowed her head and cried on Ginny's shoulder as the redhead pulled her blonde friend into her arms.

A few minutes passed before she collected herself. "Thanks for the cry Ginny… I needed it." Luna gave a watery smile. "If you see him, Harry, tell him I would like to talk to the noble prat tomorrow." She gave Ginny a fierce hug before heading toward the castle.

Ginny watched sadly, as her friend entered the castle. She really wanted to help her, but to her annoyance, she didn't know how. She felt someone grab her hand softly. Turning, she saw Harry looking at her.

"She'll be okay." He smiled, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'll make sure he gets the message." She smiled back, squeezing his hand in return. "Come on; let's get back to the common room. No doubt Fred and George have planned a party in my honor again." He sighed, causing her to giggle.

* * *

><p>The party lasted quite a while, only pausing for dinner that night. Much to Harry's annoyance, nobody had seen Jacob at all since the conclusion of the second task.<p>

"Where could he be?" Harry sighed, looking down and up the table for the seventh time that night.

"He's probably not hungry," Hermione said, not looking up from her Ancient Runes text. "Maybe he stayed in the common room."

"He wasn't there that I saw," Ginny said.

"And he wasn't in the dorm," Neville added.

"Where ever he is, I'm sure he's…"

"AHHHHHH!" an ear-piercing scream echoed across the Great Hall silencing everyone.

Dumbledore and the rest of the staff rushed out, wands raised. A second later, the students followed. As the school exited the hall, Harry could see a sixth year girl screaming with a look of horror. As everyone followed her gaze, chaos broke loose.

The Dark Mark hung in the air at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

******Once again, I'm back! Sorry it's been so long. School is back and as many as you know, it pretty hard. BUT I'm on break for a week and I hope to get a good chunk of writing done before I have to go back to classes. As usual, I will post when I get the chapters back from **Tinian I'att** (always, my thanks goes to her for making sure I don't do something stupid...like spell vial wrong)**

**Anyway, as always, Comments, Reviews, Questions and Flames are more than welcome!**

**~Kingdom219  
><strong>


	11. Riddle to a Riddle

Riddle to a Riddle

Harry stared dumbstruck at the ominous mark in the sky as people screamed in panic. _How did they get behind the wards?_ he thought frantically.

Suddenly a sharp cry snapped him out of his thoughts.

"QUIET!" Dumbledore yelled. Instantly, everyone fell silent. "Prefects are to take first through fifth years back to the common rooms, six and seventh years are to stay here and wait for the staff to return. Our guests from Jeanu, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang will please follow the instructions of your own teachers."

As students began to follow directions, there was a burst of fire from the forest, illuminating the grounds. Harry saw a bit further from the front of the castle, a small object lying on the ground. Dumbledore saw it as well and summoned it to him. As it passed, Harry noticed it was a book—The Great Gatsby. Fear grabbed hold of Harry's chest. He remembered the words from Jacob's story,_ tattoo on their left arms—a snake coming out of the mouth of a skull._ _Death Eaters!_

"Jacob!" Without a second thought, and ignoring the calls for him to stop, he whipped out his wand and sprinted toward the forest.

* * *

><p>Reaching the edge of the forest, he saw a strike of what appeared to be lightning from within. He sprinted toward it. Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream erupted from within the forest, making Harry stop in his tracks<p>

"You bastard!" yelled a voice he recognized as Jacob's. "I'll kill you!"

Regaining his nerve, Harry sprinted toward the burning area. Upon entering, he saw Jacob weakly leaning against a tree with his hand clutched over his left eye. He was pale and blood covered his hand and poured down his arm and onto his shirt. A cloaked figure was standing in front of him, wand in one hand, and to Harry's horror, the boy's eye in the other, holding it up to examine it like a trophy before placing it in a large vial and then in his pocket. The face was barely visible in the firelight, but Harry could make out enough details to know the figure was male. He turned his attention to the young man whose eye he had stolen and raised his wand.

"I think not. _Avada_…"

Thinking quickly, Harry raised his own wand. "_Expelliarmus!_" The wand flew from the unknown man's grip and into Harry's outstretched hand.

The man barely spared Harry a glance before a dagger whipped into his hand. Then, faster than Harry could react, he plunged the knife into Jacob's side. Jacobs's remaining eye widened in horror as the man pulled up with a sickening squelch before pulling out the blade and tossing it aside.

Harry watched, as if in slow motion, as Jacob's remaining eye dulled and the boy slumped sideways and sagged to the ground.

"NO! Jacob!" he yelled, horrified. Seeing the man about to run he raised the stolen wand. "_Erigo Murus!_" Instantly, a large wall rose up in front of the man, cutting off his escape. "_Incarcerous!_"

The man turned and with the downward slash of a wand that had suddenly appeared in his hand, severed the ropes before they reached him. Harry ducked behind a tree as a yellow light hit where he stood. A moment later, he peeked out and fired a Blasting Curse and a Severing Charm at the man. Easily dodging, he returned fire with an Exploding Hex and then a Disarming Charm that took Harry by surprise destroying the tree he was behind. Recovering quickly, Harry summoned the wand back to him with his own before banishing the dagger toward the man. It hit his shielding spell, falling to the ground, before he used a high-powered Lighting Charm to blind Harry. When Harry recovered, the man was gone.

"NO!" Harry roared. "Come back you coward!" He began to fire Blasting Curses into the darkness. A cough broke him out of his rampage.

Turing quickly, Harry ran to his fallen friend. Dropping to Jacob's side, Harry placed his wand on Jacob's wound and took a deep breath to calm himself. "_Vulnera Sannelto_…_Vulnera Sannelto_…" he repeated softly, but it became more desperate as the wound refused to heal. Dropping his left hand, he put pressure on the wound and summoned the dagger. Looking closely at it he swore and tossed it aside. Poison coated it. "Damn it! Hel-" He stopped suddenly when he felt Jacob take his wrists.

Looking down, the boy was giving a sideways smile. "I'm not the only one hiding something."

Harry, despite the situation, gave a short laugh. "Yeah…now shut up and save your strength. You're going to be fine, buddy." He looked up suddenly as the sound of running feet drew closer. "OVER HERE!"

"Liar…" Jacob whispered, his voice cracking, eyelids growing heavy.

"Jacob, stay awake!" Harry growled. "Do NOT fall asleep!" Jacob's head lolled to the side, his eyes closing, and his breathing slowing down. "NO! No, no, no, no! Jacob, get up! WAKE UP DAMN YOU!" he sobbed.

He felt a pair of hands grasp his shoulders lightly. "Harry, you need to move," Dumbledore spoke softly. Mutely Harry nodded, moving to allow Madame Pomfrey to check on Jacob.

"He's been stabbed," Harry said. "The wound won't heal with the healing spell I know, the blade is over there, it's covered in some sort of poison. We need to get him to…"

"Just who do you think you are, telling us what to do, Potter?" Snape sneered.

"…get him to St. Mungo's as soon as possible, before the poison can get further into his blood," Harry finished loudly, ignoring Snape's interruption.

"I agree, Mr. Potter." Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Headmaster, I'll need your permission."

"You are free to go Poppy." Dumbledore nodded.

The school healer took a small chain and pendent of a wand and a bone crossed out of her pocket, summoned the dagger to her, and she, and Jacob both disappeared with a small pop. After a second, Harry let out a shaky breath and leaned against a tree, rubbing his bloody hand across his face. He was shaking badly and staring off into the distance.

"Mr. Weasley would you and your brother, please take Harry back to the Gryffindor common room to clean up?" the Headmaster requested. Fred and George nodded, oddly serious, and gently pushed Harry along.

* * *

><p>When they reached the common room, the waiting students bombarded them with questions, but when they saw the blood on Harry's clothes, hands, and face, they quickly fell silent. They watched as he silently conjured a bowl, cloth, and water then began to scrub his face and then his hands furiously.<p>

"H-Harry…?" Hermione asked tentatively. "Harry, are you okay?" He ignored her and kept scrubbing away, muttering under his breath.

"Yeah, mate, you're freaking us out," Ron said stepping closer.

"It won't come off…it won't come off…it won't come off…" he kept repeating. After a moment, his scrubbing slowed.

"Harry you've got to…"

Suddenly, he swept the items off the table, and flipped it at the same time, causing the items to shatter against the wall. "DAMN IT!" he roared his breathing coming in heavy pants. He turned and slid to the ground, back against the wall, and placed his head on his knees.

"Harry," Ginny murmured pulling him into a hug. He broke down in tears in her arms.

"Mr. Potter," a voice said softly a short while later. The room turned to see Professor McGonagall looking at him with a soft expression. "Professor Dumbledore would like to see you."

"How is he?" Harry croaked his voice horse.

She looked apologetic, but shook her head. "I don't know…"

"Professor, what happened?" Hermione asked. "How is who? Whose blood is that? What's going on?"

Professor McGonagall looked around at the waiting students and sighed tiredly. "Tonight, Jacob Riddle was attacked by, what we think, was a Death Eater." There was a collective gasp. "He is currently being treated at St. Mungo's, but is in very shaky condition. Mr. Potter is needed to account what he saw…if you please." She motioned for Harry. He nodded, and giving one last backward glance at the room, walked out of the portrait door.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the Headmaster's office, Professor McGonagall turned to him. "After this, you go straight to the hospital wing. Do I make myself clear?" Again, he nodded without saying anything.<p>

As he entered the office, he saw Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, looking rather tired. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that the fireplace had flashed off. "Hello Harry." He smiled, though the normal glint in his eye was gone. "I'd like to congratulate you on saving Mr. Riddle's life tonight. The poison has been drawn from his body and he is now in stable condition." Harry released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, sinking into the chair in front of the Headmaster. "He'll be transferred into the hospital wing later tonight."

"That…that's great sir," he sighed, wiping his eyes.

"Indeed." The aged wizard smiled back. Then, his clear blue eyes became serious once again. "Now…we need to find out who did this to him and why."

"I couldn't see his face, sir," Harry growled. "Even in the firelight, I could only make out that it was a man, and that isn't much to go on because of Polyjuice Potion. I know he was about six foot, maybe a little shorter. He was using Jacob's wand, until I disarmed him, then he used a white colored one—the handle looked like bone." He sighed, raking his hand through his hair. "That's all I can remember right now, sir."

"That's an astounding memory, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore replied. "You'd do well as an Auror. Tell me Harry…Do you know what a Pensive is?" he asked as he walked to a cabinet with a glowing stone basin in it.

"No sir, I don't," Harry admitted, following.

"It lets one view memories—after they have first been removed from the mind. I find it most useful when trying to sort through my thoughts." The man smiled, as if remembering some secret joke. After a moment, he pulled out a thick glass vial with a large silvery liquid-like mist inside. "These are Jacob's last memories before he lost consciousness. The last things he was thinking about. I would like to have gotten only the pertinent information, but in an unconscious state, the mind tends to drift."

"How do you know you have the right memories?" Harry asked, examining the vial.

"I had to give him a small nudge with passive Legilimency—a way to delve into a person's mind." It disturbed Harry to hear that witches and wizards could use magic in such a way, but then he realized that there were other, much more gruesome uses of magic, and brushed it off. "If I had used full Legilimency, I could have damaged his mind."

Harry watched as Dumbledore poured the contents of the vial into the basin and the once silvery substance turned black and began to form shapes. Dumbledore motioned for Harry to place his hand in the basin and he did so. As he did, he felt as if he were falling.

* * *

><p>He soon found himself in an unfamiliar park. The next thing that he noticed was that it was raining, but he did not seem to be getting wet. The park didn't look like anything in Great Britain, let alone Europe. Looking to his left, he saw Professor Dumbledore. He looked sadly at the playground. "This isn't Britain."<p>

"We're in America," the old wizard replied. "Come." He quickly headed off toward the playground, Harry following. "Obtaining these memories—without damaging them entirely— took quite a bit of out of me, so we'll have to bear with the order."

Harry nodded as they reached their destination. He could hear two people talking faintly, as they got closer, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. _Is someone crying?_ he wondered. Professor Dumbledore stopped in front of a long yellow tube and peeked inside, Harry mimicking him on the other side. "J-Jacob?" He gasped.

Inside the tube was a young boy eight or nine-years-old with black hair. He looked quite beat up, bleeding from the nose and a black eye. He was bandaging a five-year-old girl's wounds. The girl's hair changed color with every hiccup and sniffle, while she muttered for the boy to stop.

"Aura, you've got to calm down," Jacob murmured, patting the girl softly on the head while using magic to create a green glow on the bandage he had just wrapped around her arm. The glow stopped and he sagged against the wall, causing the girl to cry harder. "Shush…I'm fine."

"No you're not!" the girl whimpered. "You're hurt too! Stop making me better and-hic-help yourself."

Jacob laughed tiredly. "Can't…it's all gone…" Before she could continue to yell at him, which she looked like she wanted to do, he pulled her into his lap and kissed her forehead. "Sleep will help me more," he muttered, tentatively lying down on his side with a soft hiss.

She pouted stubbornly, but after a moment, shifted so her back was against his chest, and snuggled closer. They didn't say anything for several minutes, just listened to the sound of the rain on their 'home'.

"The other kids don't like us, do they?" Aura asked in a small voice.

"No, they don't," Jacob answered softly.

"Why not?"

"We're different." He shrugged. "Besides, who needs them? We've got everything we need right here." He smiled, giving her a small squeeze and getting a giggle in return.

She smiled and cuddled deeper into his chest, her eyes fluttering closed. "Good night big brother." Harry watched as Jacob stiffened before relaxing and hugging her tighter to him. He kissed her head again before the memory began to fade away like dust in the wind.

* * *

><p>Harry looked over at the Headmaster as more black mist replaced the mist from before, making an entirely different scene. "He really loved her…didn't he?" The man didn't answer, just kept his sorrowful gaze forward as an apartment came into being. It was cleaner than Harry would have thought possible considering its only occupants were two children. He saw a much older Jacob sitting at a table with a disgruntled look on his face. Aura was standing next to him arms crossed an equally disgruntled look upon her face.<p>

"I said no, Aura." Jacob sighed. "I'm not bringing you into this and I certainly won't do _that_."

"Well that's just too bad, isn't it?" she replied, angrily. "You're my brother, so I'm automatically involved. Your _father,"_ she spat the word as if it were the worst thing in the world, "sent them for some reason."

"We don't know that they were even here for me," he argued.

"They were looking right at us," she yelled her hair and eyes turning red and yellow, respectively, "and you know it! They're planning something and we need to…"

"I'm not going to do it!" he yelled back, shooting up from his chair and getting into her face. "I will NEVER ever do something like that to you. I'll protect you, like I've always done and _always_ will." He deflated quite rapidly. "Besides, it's a dark ritual, and you know it. I already get enough crap with who my father is with the AWA." He sat down and put his head in his hands.

Aura looked at him sadly, walked over, and wrapped her little arms around him, her hair now blue. "For once, big brother let me protect _you_," she whispered. "Besides, the intent is good, so there won't be lasting damage. We can perform a purification ritual afterward too." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Please."

He sighed and rested his hands on hers. "Fine," he said dejected, "we'll do it, but we have to do it fast…tonight would be best."

She nodded and walked away. "I'll get the ingredients and we could start by..." she began as the scene suddenly blacked out, and then faded like the previous memory.

"It seems he blocked the ritual from his mind," Dumbledore said, turning to Harry. "Only a skilled Occlumens would be able to do that."

"Occlumens is the opposite of Legilimency, I assume?" Harry asked.

"Occlumency, yes. It shields one's mind." He nodded. "I would hazard a guess that young Mr. Riddle is a natural Occlumens—very rare, a born talent you see. It is nearly impossible to get into the mind of someone like that. Only a natural Legilimens can do so—and even then it is quite difficult."

"Then how did you get into his mind?"

"That, my boy, I do not know," the Headmaster mused, as the scene shifted once again to a more familiar setting. "Get ready Harry, this is the memory we need." Harry nodded, eyes sharpening as the Forbidden Forest came into view.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note!<strong>

**Hey Everyone! I'm back for a quick moment. At the next chapter, please read the Author's note on the bottom. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!  
><strong>


	12. Sorrows of the Past

**Sorrows of the Past**

They were standing next to Jacob, who was walking at a leisurely pace. He was obviously feeling down; he didn't even notice his book fall from his pocket.

_Can't really blame the guy, _Harry thought, following his friend. "I can't change this…can I, Professor?" he asked as he tried to place a hand on his friend's shoulder, only to have it to pass through it like mist.

"Not at all, Harry." The man sighed. "This is but a memory; it has already happened…good or bad." The boy nodded and continued to follow Jacob into the woods.

Jacob stopped for a moment after hearing a crackling of twigs. No one spoke as Jacob rounded a group of trees, wand out, to see a hooded figure standing over a clearly dead body.

"That's Mr. Crouch!" Harry gasped, as the man transfigured the Ministry official's body into a bone before burying it.

"_Morsmordre!_" Jacob called, casting the Dark Mark into the air. The man spun quickly. "Looks like your cover's blo…" Jacob stopped, his eyes widening in shock. "_YOU!_" Harry took a step back in surprise at the amount of hate that filled Jacob's voice. His friend's eyes turned cold as he glared at the man. "I _killed_ you!"

Harry tried to see under the hood, but the shadows were too deep. "Professor, can you see who it is?"

"I cannot Harry."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Riddle—_Avada Kedavra_!" the man yelled, his accent clearly American.

Jacob easily sidestepped the curse, while sending a stunner in his attacker's direction. The man easily dodged and turned toward the forest, Jacob running after him. Curses, hexes, charms, and jinxes flew as Jacob and the man chased each other wildly.

"I'm going to kill you for what you did!" Jacob yelled savagely.

The man just laughed. Flicking his wand in a circular motion, he brought it to his lips. "_Spiritus Ignis_!" he called with a deep breath. He blew out a stream of fire that burned into the ground and trees, cutting off Jacobs's path. "Is that all you've got?" the man taunted. "You put up a better fight when we killed that tramp sister of yours…oh, wait…that was you!"

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!_" Jacob roared, the green glow of the curse illuminating his face and making it look grotesque. He smiled sickly, hearing a thud on the other side of the flames.

"You missed." Jacob's assailant had replaced himself with a rock that stood behind Jacob whose eyes now widened in shock. "_Percutefulminis_." A bolt of lightning pierced Jacob's shoulder, sending him spiraling into a tree with a sickening crack as his arm broke, wand falling to the ground. "_Compescor_." Jacob's body stiffened to the tree suddenly, unable to move.

Jacob tried in vain to struggle as the man calmly walked over to him and picked up his wand. Examining it perfunctorily, he put his own away before pulling out a dagger. Reaching Jacob, he roughly grabbed his face to make him look ahead. "You will help my master," he said, happily. Harry couldn't see his face but he knew the man was smiling. "It is, after all, only fitting." He watched in horror as the man dug out his friend's eye with sick pleasure, humming a soft tune to himself as Jacob screamed in agony.

"You bastard!" Jacob yelled, sagging against the tree. "I'll kill you!"

Raising Jacob's wand, he aimed it at the boy. "I think not. _Avada_…"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry heard himself yell. The man calmly turned as Harry's spell ripped the wand from his fingers and, from this new angle, Harry could clearly make out his face…or at least what was left of it; half of the man's face was severely burnt, the other half scarred and bruised. Grey eyes regarded Harry with momentary surprise before turning back to Jacob.

Harry turned away, knowing what was next. "Professor could we…"

"Yes Harry," the Headmaster answered sympathetically. "I believe we've learned all that we can." A moment later, they were once again inside his office. Harry immediately sat in the closest chair with a heavy sigh, leaning his head into his hands. He barely registered that Dumbledore was speaking to him until he looked up. "…best if you returned to your dorm for the night." The man looked tired. More tired than Harry had ever seen him. "Sadly, there is nothing to divulge from these memories. I did not recognize the face of the man who attacked Mr. Riddle tonight. I will tell Madame Pomfrey that you are in good health, if a little drained over the incident tonight."

Numbly, Harry nodded and stood up, walking out the door with a soft farewell over his shoulder as he left. He doubted he'd be sleeping tonight. The memories had truly shocked him to the core. However, what truly stuck out in his mind—never mind all the dark spells Jacob knew or the fact that he had lived in a park for at least part of his life—were his dark cold eyes filled with hatred as he glared at the man that had attacked him, not once, but twice. A man that Jacob had said he himself had killed.

Harry knew he'd seen them somewhere; the same brown dark eyes that stared hatefully into his own green ones two years prior, down inside the Chamber of Secrets.

They were the eyes of Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Harry didn't even register where he was heading only that he needed to think. He walked aimlessly through the corridors for what felt like hours, and he was surprised to find himself in front of the Gryffindor common room. Looking at his watch, he knew it was half past one, but to him it felt much later. A thousand thoughts rushed through his head.

_Does it matter who his father is?_ _He's done nothing against us he's been a good friend and for Voldemort to order his own son's eye removed seems a little extreme—even for him— just to keep some sort of cover._

"Harry?" a soft voice asked as he pulled out of his thoughts. Looking up, he was surprised to find that he had at some point sat down in front of the portrait hole, he saw a worried Ginny looking down at him. "Are you all right Harry?"

"What time is it?" he asked, slowly getting up with her help.

"About two in the morning," she answered helping him into the common room and setting him on the couch.

"What are you still doing up?"

She blushed, looking at the floor. "I was waiting for you." She smiled softly.

Gently he lifted her head to look at him. "Thank you." He gave her a strained smile.

"How is…"

"He's fine," Harry assured her. "Well…he'll live. They…someone took his eye." She gasped in horror, her hands quickly covering her mouth, eyes wide. "We didn't recognize him, but he was an American Death Eater…someone Jacob knew…someone that he thought was dead."

She was silent for a moment looking into the fire, deep in thought. "Why would they take his eye?"

"I don't know," Harry sighed tiredly, leaning back into the couch. "Probably for a dark ritual; extremely dark to use human body parts, but for what exactly…I have no clue!" he growled frustrated. "If I'd only gotten there faster…maybe I could have…"

"Don't," Ginny said forcefully, covering his mouth with her hand. "There was nothing you could have done differently." Harry looked at the ground ashamed, fidgeting with his fingers. "Look at me Potter!" she growled. He flinched, but his eyes shot up, scared. Hesitantly, she placed a hand upon his shoulder. He seemed to shy away from the contact, but eased into it just as quickly. Hiding her hurt and worry, she spoke softly. "What happened?"

Harry broke right then. He told her what he had seen in the Pensive of Jacob's memories. About how Jacob had blocked a dark ritual from his mind—most likely, to prevent people from finding out what he and his sister had done to protect each other. About the pain and anger, Harry saw in his friend's eyes when he saw the Death Eater. He told her what he thought when he saw Aura and Jacob in their playground 'home'; about his life with the Dursleys; his cupboard under the stairs, his room for eleven years, the abuse, mental, emotional, and physical that they dealt to him on a daily basis.

He told her things that he never would have told anybody if he were in his right mind. He told her about his hopelessness growing up, before first coming to Hogwarts. He told her things he'd kept from Ron and Hermione; things that he would have taken to his grave.

Ginny listened, transfixed, and horrified, as the famous Harry Potter became whom he really was, just a boy who'd lost his parents and who everyone expected to be something he was nowhere near ready to become. For the first time, she really wanted to hurt Muggles, to hurt the people who had tried to reduce this loving boy to nothing and not only that she wanted to hurt Dumbledore as well.

Ginny knew from Ron's stories that Harry hated it at his relatives, and she also knew that Dumbledore knew Harry hated it there. Yet he allowed _this_ to happen! Did he know and if he did, why in the name of Merlin did he allow it to continue! What kind of 'Leader of the Light' would let their savior be abused and uncared for?

When he appeared to be finished, she didn't know what to say. He had just spewed out thirteen years of pain, sorrow, and loneliness. Harry's soft sobbing as he miserably hugged himself was the only sound in the room. Ignoring his protests, she scooted closer to him and pulled him into a comforting hug, gently rocking back and forth while humming softly. Before long, they were curled-up together, fast asleep.

* * *

><p><em>A small boy lies hunched in the corner of a dark room, his breath coming out in small, wheezing gasps. His left eye, a once brilliant green, is now swollen shut while the other, despite the tears filling it and leaking down his slowly bruising cheek, looked at the small door to his room with caution. He was crying, a thing that he cursed himself for as he stifled another sob that escaped his lips. Angrily he raised a hand to wipe a line of blood out of his only seeing eye, but gasped loudly as the movement caused his ribs to cry out in protest. <em>

"_BOY!" a deep angry voice roared, as a loud pounding began to grow closer, causing the small child to try to sink further into his corner. The pounding had reached the door, which someone wrenched open, and light burst into the room blinding the child. As his vision cleared, a large meaty hand thrust its way into the room, and reached for the child before…_

* * *

><p>Harry Potter's eyes opened with a snap, his body jerking slightly as he awoke. He looked around the room wildly before he remembered that he was in the common room, safe. He finally let himself relax upon the small couch and sighed deeply. The sigh was met with another, much softer, one right next to him. Looking over, Harry met Ginny's eyes as she gazed at him softly.<p>

He dragged his eyes away from the young, and admittedly beautiful, woman next to him. They didn't say anything for a moment, she only moved to a sitting position.

"Bad dream?" she asked, after a moment's pause. He nodded in reply, sitting next to her, their legs and shoulders touched, but neither wanted to move, "About your family?" she said with a hint of distain at the thought of the people Harry lived with. After last night, she'd be lucky to stay out of Azkaban if she ever met them.

"Yes," he whispered, feeling slightly ashamed at the admission. "Ginny…I…"

"I won't tell anyone, Harry," she said, smiling at him while placing a hand on his shoulder. She frowned slightly when she felt him stiffen at the contact. It wasn't something you would notice if you weren't looking, but as it was, she was looking. "Even if you weren't thinking clearly, you told me those things in confidence. I won't break your trust, Harry."

He smiled shyly at her. _She really is amazing,_ he thought. "Thank you, Ginny." He really was grateful. "I've…I've never told anyone about the things that went on in that house. I…I learned fast that I couldn't rely on adults, or ask questions. I had to fend for myself."

"You don't need to now." The redhead smiled. "You have us."

"Yeah…I guess I do." He smiled back. They sat in silence just enjoying each other's presence. After a while, Harry reluctantly got up. "I need to go check on Jacob." He smelled himself, and groaned. "I need a shower first…I smell horrible…"

She nodded, a bit sadly. "I think I'll go check on Luna. Let her know that Jacob's okay." She was NOT looking forward to that conversation. "And yes," she giggled, taking a whiff of him as he passed, "you most certainly do need a shower." She watched with a soft smile as he made his way up to the boys' dormitory, taking a quick glance back at her, before rounding the curve. As she headed out of the common room, she could not help skipping a bit, as she walked, nor erase the large grin from her face.

Harry sighed as he made his way into the all too familiar white corridor that was the hospital wing. Familiar white beds lined the walls on either side, surrounded by white curtains that would be able to hide the beds if needed. There weren't that many people in today, just a few of the usual colds due to winter.

Harry ignored them, making his way to the back where Jacob lay still and pale. Stopping next to his bed, Harry resisted the urge to shudder at the sight of his friend lying prone. He looked dead. His usually bright face was stuck in a look of pain; bandages covered half his head concealing his missing eye, and dried blood matted his hair. Harry figured that the healers must have had some reason for not cleaning him off. If it wasn't for his regular breathing…Harry shuddered again.

Harry hated it when he felt helpless. He hated it more when his friends were in danger and he could do nothing but wait. The boy unconsciously glared at the wound the man had given his friend on his side. Looking at the stitches, Harry knew that it would scar. A reminder of a dark time for Jacob…probably nothing compared to what he himself would be thinking when he awoke. In that moment, Harry promised himself that he would talk to Jacob when he woke up. To get answers from the boy about his past, and if need be, share some of his own. _I'm not the only one hiding something…_

"Mr. Potter?" a voice asked from behind him.

Turning around, Harry saw Madame Pomfrey looking at him gently. It was different from the stern expression usually on her face. She was a no-nonsense kind of woman when it came to the health of the students, something that usually irked him to no end, but also something he could respect.

"May I speak with you?" she asked, almost hesitantly, while motioning toward her office.

"Um...yeah…sure." It confused him. She seemed almost scared and worried about him, far more than she usually was. Silently they entered her office. She closed and locked the door behind her.

"You can put that away," she said, turning away from the door slowly. "Your wand, I mean. I won't hurt you." He blushed and immediately retracted the wand and hid it again.

"How did you know?" he asked, curious. "And how is Jacob? Is he going to be all right?" She motioned for him to sit while she took a seat of her own.

"I read your body language." She smiled, much warmer and unguarded. "I'll have you know that even though I may be a school healer, I still have the same credentials as any healer in St. Mungo's. Even so, it is a requirement to be versed in both magical and Muggle healing, as well as, if one desires a specific field. Mine just happens to be the mind arts, psychology and behavior analysis. It's quite a lot of schooling, but well worth it." She seemed very proud of her accomplishments.

"So you were looking?" Harry asked with a slight smile. He couldn't quite help it, he had always thought of the school healer as just that someone with the basic knowledge of healing. To know that there was a medical standard, and it was surprisingly high, made him feel safe. "Why were you doing that?"

"I had my suspicions when you walked into my ward in your first year, Mr. Potter." Madam Pomfrey spoke with a sad tone in her voice. The way she looked at him, gave Harry a start that made him nervous. "I've only confirmed my suspicions now, while looking over Mr. Riddle when he arrived here last night."

"What kind of suspicions do you have?" Harry asked, guardedly.

"Mr. Potter…Harry," she corrected in an almost motherly tone. "Would you say you are a fast healer?" Hesitantly, Harry nodded. "As is Mr. Riddle and while I can't go into details about his case due to healer/patient confidentiality, I can tell you that he has come from an abusive past. A fast healing rate is a sign we look for, when we think a child may be in danger at home. The patient's magic has to work harder than normal to heal the body more often." She watched as Harry's eyes glanced toward the door sharply and his muscles tensed. "Doing that is also one," she murmured quietly to the boy.

"Doing what?" he mumbled softly, eyes glancing at the door once more.

"I don't think you realize it yourself, dear boy," she spoke calmly. "You tensed just now, and you instantly looked for a way out of your situation. You also placed yourself in the corner of the room, just so you can see anything that may come at you—Harry please." The matron put out a hand to stop the boy from getting up. "I swear that anything you discuss with me will stay between us. Legally, I will not be able to divulge anything to a third party without losing my license or magic—unless I have proof that you are a danger to yourself, or to others."

The young man paused, looking the woman right in the eye as if to detect a lie. He knew, on some level, that she was telling the truth, and sat back down. "Thank you." She smiled reassuringly again. He nodded in response. "It's not your fault, what you do. It's just something that you have done for so long that it is now instinctual. Now Harry, you don't need to explain anything to me just yet, but I do need some answers if I am going to be able to fix the physical damage done." Harry, again, hesitantly nodded. "Were you ever abused?"

"Yes…I…I was mostly starved or given small portions of food and water," Harry answered quietly.

"That would explain the malnutrition." She nodded, writing down something on a sheet of paper on her desk. "I'll be putting you on a nutrition potion that will hopefully help you regain the muscle and fat your body should have had were you given decent meals growing up, you also should gain some weight and height after a while. Mind you, since we've not been able to do anything until now you may never reach your peak, but it will certainly help you fill out."

Harry smiled again before she continued with a cautious air about her. "Now…were you ever…did anyone ever…hit you?" Harry paled, but nodded. "I'm sorry, Harry," she spoke softly. "If I had only done a deeper scan of you when you came here…Professor Dumbledore assured us that you would be fine at your relatives, and as your magical guardian, we believed him."

"It's okay," Harry assured the woman. He had read up on magical guardians in the past, finding it disturbing that they had so much control over their ward: their money, where they lived, and in some cases who they trusted or married—although in cases like that, the ward would need to give permission before anything was finalized. _Nothing I can do though,_ he thought morosely. _I'll just have to trust that Dumbledore is taking care of everything until I come of age. _Pulling out of his thoughts, Harry smiled. "You didn't know. I'm sure DUMBLEDORE didn't even know what was going on. What's done is done, and for better or worse, I have to live with it. Besides," he chuckled happily, "I didn't turn out that badly."

The matron smiled and nodded. "That you didn't." They had a comfortable moment before she spoke once more. "Have you talked to anyone about, well, anything?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Yes, Ginny Weasley actually helped me out last night."

"That's good, Harry." She smiled. "I would recommend talking to her, or myself, if you have anything you want to get off your chest. I will not divulge anything without your say so," she assured the boy once again. "Now." Getting up, she walked over to a cabinet and pulled out two flutes filled with potion. "Drink these before your meals—I mean all of them." She handed him a red liquid and an orange one, "As well as this before bed." This time a purple one found its way into his hand. "A house elf will be along to get more to you when you need it."

"Thank you Madame Pomfrey," the young man said as he rose from his seat. He watched her wave her wand toward the door, unlocking it. "It really means a lot to me that you would do this. Not many people that I know would."

"I'm only doing what I should have done years ago, Mr. Potter," she commented as they stepped out of the office and into the hospital wing. "By the way, what was the spell you used to try to heal Mr. Riddle?"

**"**Vulnera Sanentur ma'am. I read it in passing while studying in the library with Hermione and Ron one day."

"That's impressive, Mr. Potter." The healer replied with raised eyebrows. "That's pretty advanced for a fourth year. Well above OWL level." A look crossed her face before she spoke again. "I don't normally do this, but take twenty-five points for Gryffindor. I was told that if the weapon you recovered had not been coated in that poison, the spell would have done as intended and healed your friend."

She grinned happily seeing the pleased look on his face. "Now, off you trot! I'm sure you have plenty to do today." She shooed the boy away, watching him exit the hall with a small grin on his face, and a much lighter weight upon both of their shoulders.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

**EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!**

**I know that I'm prob'ly going to lose a lot of fans because of this but it cannot be helped. I must seem like an unreliable writer to you all, and for that, I'm sincerely sorry!**

**Anyway, I've just lost my computer! not in the fact that it has been misplaced, but the damn thing went and died on me. Completely. Fraking this wont even turn on. What makes it worse is that I'm up North in a VERY small town for the next few months and that means I have no access to a reliable computer or any place where I can look at new ones. The only reason I've updated this story is because I've had the chapters for a week or two now and I've FINALLY gotten to a library computer.**

**Bottom line is, ONCE AGAIN (feel my frustration and angry at the worst of timing) I've got to put this story onto HIATUS. I hate to do it, but, one, when I do have the chance to get a laptop here, it needs to be for schooling, and two its going to be AT LEAST two to three months before I'm able to get a new one.**

**Again, I'm deeply sorry (If feel so unreliable and I HATE that in ANYTHING that I do) but its out of my hands. Rest assured, further chapters will be hand written until I can type them up and send them to Tinian I'att when I can.**

**Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and something will change. But until then I will see you later.**

**Your loyal writer who will not abandon you again,**

**~Kingdom219  
><strong>


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